POCATELLO — Bounce houses may be a kid magnet, but after a strong wind gust picked up one of the inflatable play structures — and the children inside — during the Biggest Show in Idaho on Friday, some are wondering if the fun is worth the risk. 

None of the children playing on the castle-shaped bounce house at the Bannock County Fairgrounds were seriously injured when the structure went up into the air and then rolled, but a five-year-old girl sustained road rash on her back and forehead when she fell out of the bounce house while it was moving, and a two-year-old girl, who stayed in the structure until it ran into a soccer goal post, scraped her nose and bumped her head. 

Pocatello resident Jessica Gale, mother of two-year-old Rylie Farias, said her daughter was excited to play in the castle, but was traumatized when it took off with her inside. So was she. 

Gale said she and her boyfriend, Justin Farias, ran after their daughter as soon as the structure began moving. 

“I was terrified,” she said, adding that she never would have let her daughter play in the bounce house if she had known that could happen. 

“I hadn’t heard about other incidents (like this),” she said. 

But there are other incidents of wind gusts moving bounce houses or children simply getting hurt while playing in the structures. 

“In the past 20 years, the number of injuries associated with inflatable bouncers treated in hospital emergency departments in the U.S. has skyrocketed, and now equals more than 30 children a day, or about one child every 45 minutes,” according to the website for Nationwide Children’s Hospital. 

Still, Aaron Greenwell, superintendent of the Bannock County Fairgrounds said Friday’s incident was the first they’ve had on their grounds. 

Greenwell said they require vendors to have liability insurance and follow all laws and regulations, but they don’t typically get anymore involved with vendors during special events like the Biggest Show in Idaho. But that will likely change in the future, he said. 

“I think this was a big enough incident, and there was potential for real hurt,” he said, adding that they will likely take steps to make sure bounce houses are more secure in the future as they continue their efforts to keep all participants safe at events at the fairgrounds. 

Still, there isn’t any talk of eliminating bounce houses as of right now. 

“A lot of people enjoy them,” he said. 

Loren Azzola, chairman of the Biggest Show in Idaho, agrees. 

“It’s a fun, free thing for the kids,” he said, adding that bounce houses are one of the activities that help draw families to the Biggest Show in Idaho.  

He said many activities involve some risk, but people still participate in them because they enjoy them. 

Still, Azzola said event organizers will likely discuss Friday’s incident when they meet on July 18. 

As a precaution, Azzola said they asked Family Fun Party, which provided the bounce houses, not to inflate their two largest structures on Saturday since the winds continued to blow. But he also recognizes that Friday’s incident was unusual. 

“It was pretty crazy,” he said, adding that the strong wind gust came out of nowhere. 

Azzola said he appreciates Don and Brenda Pollard, the owners of Family Fun Party, who have gone out of their way to check on the families and ensure them that they would cover any medical costs. 

“It’s an unfortunate incident. The owners of the stuff are very torn up about how it all happened,” he said. 

The Idaho State Journal contacted Brenda Pollard for comment on Monday, but she said they can’t make any statements at this time because they are still waiting for information from their insurance company.