Birch Bay Waterslides in Blaine will be closed for the rest of the season after a person was injured Friday, the water park announced.
“There was an unforeseen accident on one of our main slides,” Birch Bay Waterslides wrote in a post distributed on Facebook Saturday. “The injury was severe enough to require shutting down the attractions. Medical response was provided immediately while EMS was dispatched. After taking into consideration a number of variables, it was determined in the best interest of our guests and staff to close for the remaining seven operating days of the season. These variables include the incident that took place, the smoke and poor air quality and shortage of staff moving forward.”
The company initially said in a statement on Facebook Friday the park would close down early for the season “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
As of Monday evening, the top of the company’s website homepage sports a message about the closing, but does not mention the patron’s injury. It also features prominent links to the “Ticket transfer or refund request” page and ways to contact the park.
The company closed the park on the day of the incident, deciding to instead refund all the guests in attendance that day.
An ambulance crew arrived at approximately 1 p.m. Friday and treated an adult male, transporting him to PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s Hospital North in Bellingham, but the extent of his injuries has yet to be confirmed.
According to The Bellingham Herald, many people at Birch Bay Waterslides that day posted about it on social media, with many claims that the man’s injury was severe and there was a lot of blood.
“We watched it happen,” one person said on Facebook, according to the Herald. “My husband and daughter came off the same slide a few riders before him when they turned the same corner the man put his foot through the entire section of the slide shook quite a lot I even told them not to ride together again as they were going way too fast around that corner.”
“It appears as though a segment of the waterslide ‘Hairpin’ broke off and injured the leg of one of the patrons,” another wrote on Reddit, the Herald noted.
In 2017, a man in his 50s died at Birch Bay Waterslides after suffering from a heart attack. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Birch Bay Waterslides has operated in Blaine for over 35 years, according to its website. The waterpark says it has eight slides, a kiddie pool, an activity pool and hot tub.