261: The Six Flags Haunted Castle Disaster

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The Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure always drew a big crowd. People often waited for more than an hour to get into the spooky, dimly-lit corridors of the castle. But the Haunted Castle was scarier than the crowds at Six Flags would have ever imagined. The attraction was filled with flammable decor. It had very few emergency exits. There were no smoke detectors. Six Flags’ management was well aware of the Haunted Castles’ defects, but they refused to take basic safety precautions. Afterall, those efforts would have cost money.

And now for a note about our process. For this episode, Kristin read a bunch of articles, then spat them back out in her very limited vocabulary. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
Storybook Amusement channel on YouTube, “The disaster that changed theme parks forever: Haunted Castle at Six Flags Great Adventure”
The Documentary “Doorway to Hell? The Mystery and Controversy Surrounding the Fire at the Haunted Castle”
“Officials recall code violations at Theme Park,” by Donald Janson, New York Times
“Blaze fatal to 8 linked to lighter,” by Lindsey Gruson, New York Times
“Worker at Great Adventure cites delay in reporting fire,” by Donald Janson, New York Times
“Girl tells court about escaping fun house fire,” by Donald Janson, New York Times
“Amusement park owners go on trial for fire that killed 8,” New York Times
“Closing statements to jurors are made in park fire trial,” by Donald Janson, New York Times
“Fire safety official criticized for testimony on fatal Jersey blaze,” by Thomas J. Knudson, New York Times
“Charges dropped in Six Flags case,” Associated Press
“Settlement in fire at park in Jersey,” Associated Press
“Amusement park crisis management,” Joe Costal Rowan University

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