By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
After a beautiful start to the fifth annual Balloonfest in Waterford Friday night, the event – along with the weather – went south Saturday.
A storm cell moving through the area Saturday morning created a dangerous situation when one of the hot air balloons was swept into spectators and tents at about 7:15 a.m. and the grounds were later cleared for the day prior to a line of severe thunderstorms moving through.
There were conflicting reports of injuries following the early-morning incident.
The Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce issued a press release at about 3 p.m. Saturday detailing the sudden, violent movement of a tethered balloon into a grouping of tents.
Video posted on YouTube showed the red-and-white-checkered balloon getting caught up in a wind gust. The balloon appeared to travel a good distance, dragging the two vehicles it was tethered to along with it.
According to a witness, the one vehicle broke free before being dragged any distance, but the other followed the balloon all the way into the vendors’ tent area. The two vehicles were reportedly an SUV and a one-ton pickup truck.
The press release, quoting event director Ken Walter, said Walter and balloon pilot Scott McClinton “suspected weather conditions were about to change,” and the two called off a planned static display.
Firsthand accounts
According to a volunteer on site, Jeff Hodgson, the balloons were being deflated when the incident took place.
The balloon that took off, he said, was the balloon being inflated for tethered rides.
“They came and told us there was a big shelf cloud or wind on the way, and to get our balloons down,” Hodgson said, who was working with the ReMax balloon. He added that the majority of the balloons were close to being inflated, but others weren’t that far along.
“They just wanted to get balloons up so the people that were there had something to see,” Hodgson said. “They were not going to launch.”
He didn’t see the actual incident until a video of it was posted later in the day on YouTube. He said weather conditions were discussed thoroughly that morning with the threat of changing conditions.
“Everyone had their laptops,” Hodgson said. “Everyone knew where the weather was, and they didn’t think we were in any danger.”
Jenifer Sustachek, 46, of Waterford, suffered minor injuries in the accident. She took to the television to speak about the relative safety of festival Monday night.
According to a Facebook post, “TMJ4 just left my house. Did an interview with us. Look horrible but wanted to get the word out that ballooning is SAFE!! This was a freak accident and it was the skill of pilots and crew that prevented this from being much worse.”
A rare occurance
Sustachek said Tuesday that she didn’t want what happened to affect the future of Balloonfest. She and her husband John Sustachek have been working with a balloon team for years and she said what happened was a extremely rare.
“Everything you do in life has risk and we’ve been doing this for 3 or 4 years and we’ve never had something like this happen before,” she said.
“The wind came up so fast and the straps on the balloon wrapped around my ankle and started to pull me,” she continued. “I tried to free myself and then the wind picked up again and the balloon started to drag me. It pulled so tight on my foot, I thought I was going to lose it. But just as they were going to try to cut me free of the straps, they were able to pull them apart enough to get me out.”
Unfortunately for Jennifer’s husband John, everybody was so concerned for her well being that once she was free, they let go of the balloon and that’s when it took him up because a rope had wrapped him up.
He was carried several feet up in the air before the balloon was secured once again and he was freed. Jennifer Sustachek suffered a concussion when her head hit the ground during the incident and she wore a neck brace for three days because of the whiplash. She and her husband were also bruised and battered, but are doing fine now.
“I just want everyone to know our pilot was amazing,” she said. “I trust him so much. He made the call to not fly the balloon that day even though we started out at the Rochester airport planning to launch, but he decided to just tether the balloon at the park because of we had people watching the radar and knew things could turn.”
Weather turns
Cindi Schweitzer, owner of Integrity Funeral Homes in Waterford, was on the grounds to prepare for the 5K run/walk to benefit the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic when the weather turned. She said when she arrived at about 6:45 a.m., the skies were clear and blue. By 7 a.m., the wind had picked up considerably.
“It came so quickly, it took everyone by surprise,” she said. She and organizers of the race decided to delay the start of the race until there were certain it was safe to run, but the race started less than 10 minutes after its posted 8 a.m. start time.
The 126 participants raised $2,000 for the cancer clinic.
Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Katy Engels declined to comment further about Saturday’s weather, saying by email, “the statement I sent is sufficient.”
She added late Tuesday that the media attention had “brought a lot of awareness of our event,” and people seemed to comprehend the importance of safety.
“We have found most people are understanding that safety comes first at an event like ours and they have said they will be back in 2016,” Engels explained in an email. Plans for the sixth annual Balloonfest are for the third weekend of July next year.
Jennifer Sustachek said she knows there were people upset that the balloons weren’t flying Saturday, but she believes the right call was made for everyone’s safety.
And as for her and John? Well, this isn’t going to stop them from flying. “I’m going up again, no doubt about it.”
Dramatic scene
Walter said in the press release, “it was certainly a dramatic scene to watch, but again, we had the skills and training in the right place at the right time to manage the incident.” He also praised the work of McClinton, saying “it was skill and training that prevented this from becoming a much worse incident.”
However, there were discrepancies between the press release and other reports. The press release said there were no injuries reported, but at least two different people reported spectators taken to the hospital by ambulance.
The statement also did not cover the weather events of the afternoon – two different lines of thunderstorms that resulted in tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings being issued for several southeast Wisconsin counties, including Racine. The possibility of severe storms over the weekend, especially on Saturday, had been in the forecast for days before the event.
Event organizers had stressed before the event that all balloon-related events were weather-dependent, as well.
Schweitzer, as a member of the Chamber Board of Directors, said she was on the grounds when the Racine County Sheriff’s Department arrived at about 2:15 p.m. to warn of the impending severe weather.
She said that, after a discussion with Sheriff’s deputies, the decision was made to clear the grounds. Spectators were told, for their own safety, to leave, as were vendors. Schweitzer said Evergreen Elementary didn’t have enough space to safely house everyone seeking shelter, though vendors were allowed in the school if they chose to stay.
By 3 p.m., when Schweitzer was ready to leave, she said a short sprint from the Integrity van to her vehicle left her soaked. She left, but “I was scared to death driving because I couldn’t even see.”
The grounds were not reopened Saturday, and high winds led to an early end to the event at 7 a.m. Sunday.
The planned Memorial Balloon Launch – another event organized by Schweitzer – was canceled. She said the event will likely be rescheduled to coincide with a River Rhythms concert.
She also said the memorial event will be moved to the new Aurora cancer clinic starting next year. When asked if the decision had anything to do with Saturday’s incidents, she declined to comment.
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