Growing concerns about the deadly accident at the Ohio State Fair Wednesday night may begin to impact local county fairs.
Will fears over ride safety sway some people from attending the summertime tradition?
"It's terrifying, you just never imagine anything like that happening and you know you hear stuff at Geauga Lake and stuff, Six Flags and stuff every once in awhile, but you never think it's going to happen and then it does, so it was terrifying," said Javeon Day, who attended the Summit County Fair with his children on Thursday.
Day said he and his family were going to head down to the state fair, but thought twice after Wednesday night's catastrophe.
Other parents at the Summit County Fair also showed some hesitation.
"I will let them ride a few things, but yea, I kind of scope them out first," said Susan Strandberg who brought her children to the fair. "There's actually a couple of things I've said 'no' to."
The scare and potential fallout would trickle down to the vendors who rely on a successful fair to support their families.
"I'm third generation. This is how I survive, make my living," Jeff Otterbacher of Otters Concessions said. "We don't have pensions, we don't have a retirement from some company, we are the company."
Otterbacher became emotional just thinking about the deadly accident at the State Fair after the Fire Ball ride broke apart midair.
"It's tragic for something like this to happen, hurts everybody," Otterbacher said.
Otterbacher could soon feel that pain. His concessions company sells hot dogs, corn dogs and Dippin' Dots at 37 county fairs across Ohio, including the Cuyahoga County Fair.
"This tragedy certainly will effect many of our vendors," said Cuyahoga County Fair spokesperson Candyce Traci.
Traci says new concerns about ride safety are expected to lead to a drop in attendance at the Cuyahoga County Fair this year.
"We're doing everything that we can to make our fair as safe as possible," Traci said.
"Our message to our fairs is that we need to make sure that we follow the statutes of the state of Ohio," said Executive Director of the Ohio Fair Managers Association Howard Call.
Call oversees every fair in the state and says the freak accident in Columbus is rare.
"Ohio has one of the most regimented safety inspection programs for the parks and portable amusement business of any of the states in the United States," Call said.
Safety meetings are held between fair officials, police and Emergency Medical Services to make sure everyone involved is on the same page in case of an emergency.
Despite that commitment, those who come may still be reluctant to get on the rides and that will hurt the fairs.
"It's huge revenue for us," said Traci.
Ten to 12 percent of the money collected during the Cuyahoga County Fair comes from rides, which are now facing scrutiny.
"People have a bad, bad thought of rides now and it's not fair. It was a malfunction," said Otterbacher.
Otterbacher is hopeful people will still support their county fairs and not let one accident keep them away.
"There are so many different activities that bring people to the fair. It's not just about the rides, it's not about the food, it's about the community coming together," Otterbacher said.
A community that remains shocked and saddened by what has happened.
"For some families, it's never going to wear off, it's really sad," Otterbacher said.
But for others, it's a tradition that won't soon change.
"It's a little scary, I'm a little hesitant about it, but accidents do happen," said Miki Komich who brought her grandchildren to the Summit County Fair.
Despite the new threat his business faces, Otterbacher knows that's not what's important right now.
"When something happens to people, it's not about a bottom line, it's not about the money. It's about making sure people are safe."
The Summit County Fair expects to see 50,000 visitors over its six day run this year, and 12,000 of those fairgoers will ride the 17 rides there. The Cuyahoga County Fair was hoping 2017 would be a recovery year. Extreme heat and heavy rains last year caused attendance to drop by 70,000. That much-needed revenue recovery is now a risk.
