Motorized Pig Catches Fire At Maplewood Mall
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Dramatic video shows a kid's amusement ride going up in flames inside a Twin Cities mall.
The motorized pig caught fire at Maplewood Mall on Monday night. No children were on the ride at the time and nobody was hurt.
The general manager of Maplewood Mall says Monday night's fire was an unfortunate, but isolated, incident. There are already new precautions in place in hopes of making sure nothing like this happens again.
Video taken by a witness at Maplewood Mall Monday shows the "Amusing Rides" toy up in flames.
"It had been on fire, it was put out by a mall security guard," Maplewood fire chief Steve Lukin said.
The fire started when the electric-powered mobile animals were plugged in and being recharged. Maplewood Fire officials believe there was an electrical malfunction.
"I've already served around 60,000 customers, and we never hurt any customer," Amusing Rides owner Song Han said.
Han was at his kiosk inside Maplewood Mall Thursday, where the ride was up and running again. He said the video is scary to watch, but he wants to remind parents that it was the only fire since he started running the business almost four years ago, and that no child is ever on the ride while it is being charged
"Safety is always the first priority," Han said.
Han says he has already added new charging cords and a new fire extinguisher to his kiosk just for extra precaution.
"It's a very good thing nobody was on it, especially as they ride around when someone may not have been paying that much attention," Lukin said.
Han says he also has that same ride in two other malls in Minnesota -- at Rosedale and in Duluth. He bought them from GiddyUp Rides, which are all over the country.
