Delaware State Fair: How officials keep the rides, food safe

On Thursday the Delaware State Fair will open its gates for the 99th time, welcoming 300,000 fair-goers to 10 days of rides, shows, competitions and feasting on pretty much anything that can fit in a fryer.

But who makes sure all those fried Oreos and sticks laden with meat don’t come with a sprinkling of mold, or that the spinning teacups don’t go flying off into the crowd?

It takes a small village of fair officials, state agencies and independent inspectors.

“Safety is first,” said Danny Aguilar, the fair’s assistant general manager and director of marketing.

The days leading up to the fair are a mad rush of staging dozens of vendors. Some are private owners and others are part of one of the country’s largest carnival providers, Wade Shows Inc., which brings in and sets up everything from the Super Slide to the kiddie rides.

Whether inspectors are looking at the 165-foot-long roller coaster or the smallest vendor serving only cotton candy, the goal is to help those attractions stay open and safe for the public to enjoy, not to search for ways to shut them down, officials said.

Delaware State Fair: What to know before you go

The food

The 99th annual Delaware State Fair boasts 88 food vendors serving everything from the usual hot dogs and hamburgers to fried lemonade and gator nuggets.

Each vendor must apply for a space and get a temporary food establishment permit from the state Division of Public Health. Anyone who gets a health permit can serve food at the fair, said Caroline Judd, one of the state’s environmental health specialists.

Those applications ask relatively routine questions: What food they serve, where they get their food and how they prepare and store those food items. On-site processing, such as making sausage or any other food manufacturing processes, are not allowed, Judd said.

A team of nearly a dozen public health inspectors spend two days – the day before and the first day of the fair – visiting each of the vendors to make sure they have those permits and conduct on-site inspections.

They check whether each vendor has an approved water supply, that they are not cross-contaminating food and that employees are not sneezing or coughing on the hamburgers, among other safety concerns.

“It is a huge undertaking,” Judd said.

Most of the inspections will take place on the first day of the fair, when vendors are up and running and ready to serve food. She said each inspection lasts about 20 minutes.

“We do a limited inspection compared to what we do at a full-fledged restaurant,” Judd said.

Inspectors will be on-hand during the fair to follow up on any problems and make sure raw chicken is not snuggling alongside any fresh fruit or veggies.

“We’re generally looking for those indicators for food-borne illness,” Judd said. “Sometimes we’ll do internet research beforehand to see if they have any FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) violations.”

If a vendor got caught with a portable kitchen full of cockroaches in the Carolinas, state health inspectors – and the public – may never know. Health and fair officials also do not require any background checks for those independent vendors, some of which rely on volunteers.

“In terms of food violations from other states, the Office of Food Protection does not review inspection reports from other states,” public health spokeswoman Andrea Wojcik said. “As this is a temporary event, anyone who has been inspected by our staff can operate under a temporary food establishment permit as long as all food is prepared on site.”

If inspectors do find something unacceptable, the vendors are given a chance to correct the problem. The agency will not issue fines for the temporary vendors; however, the eight mobile units that have annual permits could be subject to fines and violations if serious problems are found.

“We like to ask questions first before we start throwing out the food,” Judd said.

Anyone who questions the cleanliness of a food vendor can ask to see their inspection report or they can file a complaint.

In the seven years that Judd has reviewed or overseen food safety inspections at the fair, she could only recall one mishap. That's when a vendor served undercooked chicken last year.

Public health officials said they have no record of any major food-illness related outbreaks. 

“Most are very seasoned food vendors,” Judd said. “They know what to expect from us and we know what to expect from them.”

Check below for a list of the food vendor inspection reports.

The rides

Unlike some other states, Delaware does not have a specific division or department that inspects carnival rides.

Delaware’s Office of the State Fire Marshal is the only government agency with legal authority to see whether rides at the fair or any other festival have been properly inspected.

Delaware Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal B. Scott Bullock makes sure each ride at the fair has been inspected at least once this year. He also makes sure the company that provides the rides works with independent inspectors and electricians to make sure roller coaster cars cannot come off their tracks.

“For the most part, the industry has come a long way – there have been many improvements,” said Ed LaSalle, a ride inspector with the fair’s independent inspectors, North Carolina-based Wagner Consulting Group Inc. “And as far as rides go, age does not mean a thing. I mean, I’m getting old, and I still work. It’s how it was taken care of, how the maintenance was done. Just because a ride is 20 years old, that doesn’t make it bad.”

The Delaware law overseeing amusement rides does not specify where or when annual inspections must be done. It only stipulates that rides must be inspected annually by a professional approved by the owner’s insurer. 

With a stack of more than 50 inspection reports in hand, Bullock focused on the carnival area of the fair as the gates prepared to open, cross-checking each ride and report to make sure that what Wade Shows said they were setting up is what is being laid out.

But if the Dragon Wagon failed at a fair in another state last month, Bullock and his office may not necessarily have that information.

“Any problems or violations during the ride set-up immediately renders that ride inoperative and will not be permitted on-site for our final inspection,” Assistant State Fire Marshal Michael Chionchio said in an email.

Wade Shows has provided the rides at the Delaware State Fair for the past 19 years, and in that time, Bullock and other fair officials could not recall any major incidents.

Owner Frank Zaitshik said there are no overarching federal regulations when it comes to ride safety, but there are trade organizations such as the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions and the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials that certify, represent and advise companies like Wade.

The latest ride incident survey report published by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions in 2016 found that there were more than 1,500 ride-related injuries reported across the country in 2015. The study does not outline any reported fatalities, or divulge which companies reported injuries.

Each of Wade’s rides is inspected dozens of times throughout the year because it travels to shows in 12 states and each has its own safety and inspection requirements, he said. 

The average carnival won't be exposed to so many inspections, Zaitshik said. 

"Now does that mean something can’t happen? Obviously not," he said. "As many people that we ride – in excess of 15 million people a year – we’re going to have exposure and we’re going to have incidents, whether it’s a trip and fall or someone got a kink in their neck.”

Wade Shows employs more than a dozen ride inspectors who follow ride manufacturers’ checklists for safety inspections. All of Wade’s employees, which include ride operators, are required to pass drug and background tests, Zaitshik said. 

After last year’s fatal accident in Ohio State Fair, Wade’s inspectors now also search for any corrosion that could pose a risk, Zaitshik said. An investigation found that a corroded support beam on the swinging Fire Ball ride at that fair caused a “catastrophic failure” that killed an 18-year-old man and injured seven others.

When that ride malfunctioned, Wade and fair organizers opted to shut down a similar ride at the Delaware State Fair – even though the ride was made by a different manufacturer and had passed all inspections.

The Delaware fair's contractor, Wagner Consulting Group Inc., double checks that rides have been properly assembled and that there are no safety concerns. If a piece of equipment is unstable, that ride will be kept offline until the part can be ordered and replaced.

“They may not like what you tell them, but it is what it is,” said Wagner's LaSalle. “We don’t take chances.”

If the rides pass Wade’s and Wagner’s on-site inspections, then they are taken for a test drive. If Wade, Wagner and the fire marshal find no problems, the ride is then checked for any electrical-related problems by an independent electrician.

Ziatshik said Delaware is one of the few states that require an independent electrician to check ride wiring.

RIDE INSPECTIONS

FOOD VENDOR INSPECTIONS

IF YOU GO

When: Thursday, July 19, through Saturday, July 28. Gates open at 9 a.m. on July 19, and 8 a.m. every other day.

Where: Delaware State Fairgrounds, 18500 S. DuPont Hwy., Harrington

Cost: $9 for ages 13 and older; $4 for ages 6 to 12; $30.50 for five-day adult gate admission; free for children 5 and younger; free parking

More info: go to www.delawarestatefair.com

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.

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