Three children were seriously injured Sunday after winds picked up the bounce house they were in and hurled it hundreds of feet.
The incident happened on the 7300 block of Alpine Drive in the Lower Valley.
Witnesses said the balloon was in the front yard of a home and somehow got picked up by a wind gust and landed across the street in a home’s backyard.
"We just heard a loud bang,” said Anita Rodriguez, who helped rescue the children. “We actually thought that the balloon had just collapsed, that it was in that backyard of that house. Come to find out that it wasn't.”
Fire officials said the three children ranged in ages from 2 to 7 years old. All three were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries.
"I thought it was only the balloon. I didn't see the little kids. Then I heard the little boys crying," said Victor Echegoyn, the owner the backyard where the balloon landed.
The inflatable toy is owned by the family using it. It was tethered to a fence with two nylon ropes.
“It was anchored down right, you know, it was just one of them big whirlwinds," said Chuck Oxford, a man related to the injured children.
Fire officials warn that all inflatable structures must be securely tethered to the ground on all sides and that they should not be used if it is windy.
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