State looking into roller coaster injury at Lake Winnie

Investigators with Georgia’s Office of Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner are examining a Lake Winnepesaukah roller coaster after a woman fell from it Sunday.

Glenn Allen, a spokesman for the agency, said a 42-year-old woman fell from the park’s Wild Lightnin’ steel roller coaster around 2 p.m. He did not know why she fell.

“That’s going to be something that we’re going to look at,” he said.

The Catoosa County Fire Department responded to the fall Sunday afternoon. A spokeswoman for the department told the Times Free Press the woman was conscious and alert when department personnel drove her to Erlanger hospital.

Talley Green, a spokeswoman for the park, said the incident is under investigation and the victim was taken by ambulance as a precautionary measure.

Allen said investigators started to examine the ride Monday and will continue Tuesday.

On the theme park’s website, the ride is described as “a wild coaster ride aboard rails of steel that takes guests through twists, hairpin turns, drops, and curves like nothing else on earth.” According to ultimaterollercoaster.com, the ride tops out at 25 mph.

Videos of Wild Lightnin’ online show the ride features several quick, jerky turns and a couple of drops. Allen said the department last inspected the ride in April before the park opened for the season.

Members of the department came to the park after an injury on a ride two years ago. According to Times Free Press archives, two children got hurt on the Fly-O-Plane in July 2016.