ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — Guests were evacuated from a 400-foot tall observation wheel at ICON Park in Orlando after it lost power Saturday evening.
Orange County Fire Rescue said they were called to the park at around 6:20 p.m. after park goers reported being stuck on The Wheel.
Fire officials said 20 of the 30 ride capsules were occupied by guests when The Wheel lost power. Rescuers began climbing the structure and using ladder trucks to evacuate the pods.
“The Wheel lost power Saturday night and we’re working with the Orange County Fire Department to safely evacuate guests,” ICON Park wrote in a statement to NBC affiliate WESH.
There is no official word yet on what caused The Wheel to lose power. Video obtained by WESH showed a small fire with sparks flying from the structure and cascading down onto one of the ride capsules.
After some power was restored to the attraction, operators began manually rotating The Wheel so guests could exit at ground level. Orange County Fire Rescue said it could take crews hours to evacuate everyone on the ride.
As of 10:00 p.m., over 60 people were evacuated from the ride, with more still waiting to be rescued.
ICON Park was home to the now-shuttered drop ride involved in the death of 14-year-old Tyree Sampson earlier this year. No one was hurt in Saturday’s incident, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.
