WATERVILLE — A carnival ride that malfunctioned and injured three children Friday will remain closed until an investigation is completed by the state fire marshal.

Mary Robinson, the office manager for Smokey’s Greater Shows, said Saturday that the Dragon Wagon, a small roller coaster-type ride, will be closed at the fair until further notice, but other rides are open.

Inspectors from the Office of the State Fire Marshal investigate a ride malfunction at the Smokey’s Greater Show carnival at Head of Falls in Waterville on Friday. Michael G. Seamans/Morning Sentinel

The festival, a fundraiser for Waterville-based Maine Children’s Home for Little Wanderers, started on Thursday and is scheduled to go through Sunday at the Head of Falls park in Waterville. It opened at noon Saturday and is scheduled to be open for its scheduled hours, noon to 6 p.m., on Sunday.

Robinson said she wasn’t sure when the Dragon Wagon would be back in service.

“That’s up to the fire marshal’s office,” she said, in an interview Saturday outside the carnival’s business office about an hour before it opened.

The fire marshal’s office and the Waterville Fire Department did not return messages left Saturday morning.

Stephanie Carver, 27, of Waterville, said her daughter, 10, and two sons, 7 and 5, rode the Dragon Wagon half an hour before the accident happened.

The family left the ride to get a snow cone and was getting ready to leave the carnival when the accident happened, Carver said, in a phone interview Saturday. She heard a loud bang and looked over to see two cars on the ride smashed together, and a group of hurt children crying and screaming, Carver said.

There was “blood everywhere,” she said.

Carver said she has taken her children to the carnival every year and never thought an accident would happen, but after Friday, she intends to keep away from carnivals. There was no level of inspection that would convince her the rides were safe, Carver said, especially since fire officials said the Dragon Wagon had passed inspection only before the accident.

“I will never bring my kids there again,” she said.

Robinson wouldn’t comment further on the accident, citing the ongoing investigation. She referred all questions about carnival maintenance and inspections to the fire marshal.

She also couldn’t predict the possible impact that news of the accident could have on carnival attendance.

“That’s something nobody knows,” Robinson said.

Smokey’s Greater Shows provides amusement rides, food and games for many summer festivals in Maine. According to its online schedule, the carnival company is booked straight through the summer for events across the state, including Portland’s Old Port Festival this weekend; the Augusta Whatever Family Fun Festival, which begins June 27; the Yarmouth Clam Festival in late July; the Skowhegan State Fair in August; and the Farmington Fair in September.

According to the Waterville Fire Department, the accident happened when the carts on the ride separated from the front. The accident was called in at 7:06 p.m. Friday and injured three children. The children’s wounds were mostly superficial, but one child was sent to Inland Hospital in Waterville for treatment, according to fire department officials.

According to Fire Chief David LaFountain, all rides at the carnival were inspected Wednesday and the Dragon Wagon passed inspection. LaFountain said Saturday all information about the accident and investigation will come from the fire marshal’s office.

This story will be updated.

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