Bounce castles and wind can be a dangerous combination, according to UTEP study

EL PASO, Texas - A UTEP Professor along with researches from the University of Georgia is diving into the dangers of bounce castles and strong winds.

At least 479 people were injured and 28 died in bounce house accidents worldwide due to weather events since 2000, according to the study, which was coauthored by Thomas E. Gill, Ph.D., professor of environmental science at UTEP.

Gill's interest and concern into the subject began over a decade when, when he saw a story on the news about a dust devil picking up a bounce castle with three children inside, sent it flying over several houses and then crashed, injuring all the children.

The study was recently published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, and was the research was led by John Knox, Ph.D., professor of geography at the University of Georgia.

ABC-7 spoke with one local business owner about how her team handles strong winds to ensure the safety of her customers.

“We monitor the wind very closely, and so we have inflates that we can absolutely not operate over 15 miles an hour," according to Rosalie Bradford, owner of InterXtreme Interactive Fun in El Paso.

Bradford said her team works extremely hard in all aspects of safety…for both large and small events.

“We set it up, everything is completely stacked down and secured, we never leave anything alone if at all possible just ensure that utmost safety,” she said.

Texas and New Mexico are two states with strict safety guidelines…professor gill says that the amount of safety regulations for bounce castles depend on where you live.

You can view more of the research at the study's website, weathertobounce.com.