Safety rules questioned after community pool slide collapse

Slide collapse Thursday sends 12 kids to hospital

FLEMING ISLAND, Fla. – News4Jax headed out Friday night to look at how other community water parks handle safety on their slides, after the water slide at Eagle Harbor Community Pool collapsed Thursday.

Nocatee has Splash Water Park, which has two large slides and park-goers told News4Jax that the park operates very safely.

"They usually let one person go at a time and very cautious about it, so I've had a very good experience," said park-goer Swadi Sagar.

"The guards are safe guards, very good always watching how kids are action," said Marilyn Clayton.

Channel 4's Scott Johnson met up Friday night with Lee Hovis, the operations manager of the Splash Water Park. Hovis said Splash Water Park has a very strict rule about the slides that only one person is allowed on the slide at a time.

"We have a strict rule, where it's one person at a time, one lifeguard at top, one at bottom. They strictly enforce our rule," said Hovis.

Those rules are a little different than the rules at Eagle Harbor, where News4Jax was told they do have a one person at a time rule for the slide, but that only one lifeguard is at the bottom of the slide and not at the top keeping track of how many people are going down.

The Screaming Eagle slide policy listed on Eagle Harbor's website does state only one person is allowed to ride at a time, but many people who frequent the Screaming Eagle, said they often see double riders going down the slide.

One person told News4Jax that they've seen four or five people on the slide at one time. News4Jax was told Thursday night there were between 15-20 people on the slide when it collapsed.

UNCUT: 911 calls report collapse, injuries
IMAGES:  Photos of collapsed water slide

"That's a nightmare for anybody," said Hovis. "We go by industry standards, what water park association has established for years."


About the Author:

Scott is a multi-Emmy Award Winning Anchor and Reporter, who also hosts the “Going Ringside With The Local Station” Podcast. Scott has been a journalist for 25 years, covering stories including six presidential elections, multiple space shuttle launches and dozens of high-profile murder trials.