COSTA MESA : County Fair Death Being Investigated

State investigators Monday began looking into the electrocution of a carnival worker at the Orange County Fair on Saturday.

Safety officials closed the Gravitron ride, where Ron Vogt, 45, of Los Alamitos is believed to have touched an exposed wire while repairing failed lights late Saturday night.

“We don’t have any conclusions at this time,” said Jim Brown, regional manager for Cal-OSHA’s Anaheim office. “We’ve shut the ride down until we are satisfied it can be operated.”

Before the fair opened its gates Monday morning, Father Robert J. McCarthy led a prayer service for Vogt’s family and about 40 carnival workers gathered at the foot of a Ferris wheel.

“You bring joy and happiness into the lives of many people,” said McCarthy, who travels the country as the Catholic Church’s chaplain to carnivals.

He also reminded workers to follow safety procedures.

Fair officials said that the ride, which spins passengers, was working fine and that Vogt was fixing an outside spotlight that had gone out.

Vogt listed himself as an electrician but was hired last week only to operate the ride, said a spokesman for B&B; Amusements, the carnival company.

Officials said he may have touched the live wire while detaching it underneath the ride.

“His heart was in the right place. He was trying to repair the ride,” said Lee D. Geiling, a safety consultant employed by the fair. “Unfortunately, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The amusement company Monday was replacing the ride’s wiring, some of which was burned during Saturday’s mishap.

The Gravitron was inspected this year by the state Department of Industrial Relations and deemed safe, a department spokesman said.

The incident is the second mishap involving rides at the fair in two years.

Last summer, eight people were injured when a two-car train on the Cyclone roller coaster slammed into an empty train, which then crashed into one being loaded with passengers.

Investigators blamed operator error.