Northeast
Government agencies investigate Maryland bounce house mishap that killed 5-year-old: What to know
U.S. safety officials and police have launched an investigation in response to a tragedy that occurred in Waldorf, Maryland, on Aug. 2, which left a 5-year-old boy dead and another injured after a bounce house went airborne during a baseball game.
Powerful wind gusts had lifted the bounce house approximately 15 to 20 feet in the air, causing children to fall before it landed on the playing field at Regency Furniture Stadium, Charles County officials announced in a press release.
EMS personnel, already stationed at the game, along with Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball team trainers and volunteer first responders quickly began patient care of the two children within minutes of the event.
YOUNG BOY KILLED AFTER BOUNCE HOUSE GOES AIRBORNE AT MARYLAND BASEBALL GAME
Maryland State Police transported one 5-year-old male to a children’s hospital, and he was later pronounced dead. A second pediatric patient reportedly sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
The Charles County Sheriff’s Office said it has no further updates and cannot disclose the status of the injured child’s recovery.
The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs canceled their games for the weekend after a child was killed when a bounce house went airborne Friday night. (Marie Ragano /TMX)
“We extend our deepest empathy to the children and their families during this difficult time. We thank our EMS team and the Maryland State Police for their swift actions to ensure the children received immediate care,” Charles County Government Commissioner President Reuben B. Collins, II, Esq. said in the release.
2-YEAR-OLD DEAD IN ARIZONA AFTER BOUNCE HOUSE WAS SWEPT AWAY BY WIND
The team canceled all baseball games and activities the following day, per officials, and offered counseling and support to families, players and fans who attended the game.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Maryland Occupational Safety and Health (MOSH) both confirmed to Fox News Digital that an investigation is underway. Officials are coordinating with the Charles County Sheriff’s Office on the investigation.
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Both the CPSC and the MOSH did not have further comment on the incident as the probe is ongoing.
A child was killed and several others were injured after a gust of air sent a bounce house up to 20 feet in the air with children still inside. The incident occurred at a baseball game in Waldorf, Maryland. (Marie Ragano /TMX)
This is not the first bounce house-related incident in recent months.
In May, a 2-year-old child was killed and another injured when a bounce house was swept up by wind in Casa Grande, Arizona.
And in November, a 4-year-old boy died as a result of a bounce house strangulation, according to the CPSC.
At least 479 injuries and 28 deaths have happened in wind-related bounce house incidents around the world since 2000, according to a report conducted by the University of Georgia.
“These injuries are on top of an estimated 10,000 ER visits in the U.S. each year because of bounce house related accidents that regularly result in broken bones, muscle sprains and concussions,” the report says.
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital estimates injuries associated with inflatable bouncers treated in hospital emergency departments in the U.S. equals more than 20 children a day in the past 20 years. (Marie Ragano/TMX)
Nationwide Children’s Hospital, located in Columbus, Ohio, estimates that injuries associated with inflatable bounce houses in the U.S. equals more than 20 children treated in hospital emergency departments a day over the last 20 years.
CPSC’s latest tips on bounce house safety:
-Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for the proper setup.
-Make sure the bounce house is properly staked and anchored on a flat, even surface.
-Never place bounce houses near tree branches, power lines or fences.
-Only children about the same age and size should be jumping at one time. Always observe the maximum occupancy limit.
-Teach children to play safely – not tumble, wrestle or do flips.
-Keep children away from any gas generators or air pumps, especially if standing water is nearby.
-Children should always be supervised by an adult and or staff from the company which is operating the bounce house.
Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price contributed to this report.
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President Donald Trump took Christmas Eve calls from children inquiring as to the whereabouts of Santa Claus, according to NORAD’s “Santa Tracker.” At one point, he fielded a call from a child in Pennsylvania, and it went as one might expect.
Trump spoke to the children on speakerphone in front of cameras and was connected with a five-year-old boy and his mother in State College.
“Pennsylvania’s great,” Trump told the boy. “We won Pennsylvania, actually, three times. We won Pennsylvania. We won it in a landslide, so I love Pennsylvania.”
The president won the state in 2016 and 2024, but lost it in 2020, when he baselessly claimed that voter fraud occurred in the state and elsewhere.
The president told the child that, according to NORAD’s “Santa Tracker,” which somehow escaped the DOGE cuts, Old Saint Nick was in Copenhagen and heading to the U.S.
“What would you like from Santa?” Trump asked.
The child responded with what sounded like “a 3-D pen” before listing two unintelligible items, “and a robot.”
“Well, you’ll get all of it,” the president replied, leaving Mom out to dry. “Mom, I think he’s gonna get all of it, don’t you think, from Santa?”
“I think so,” the woman replied. “He was really good.”
Trump told the boy, “When you wake up in the morning, you’re gonna be the happiest young man.”
In 2018, Trump famously took a Christmas Eve call from a seven-year-old and asked, “Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it’s marginal, right?”
Watch above via C-SPAN.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The chief of the Providence Fire Department said Thursday that one person was dead after fire spread through a home in the Elmwood section.
Firefighters were called to 100 Princeton Ave. at 4:44 a.m. for a report of fire in the basement that was spreading quickly.
Chief Derek Silva said on X that four people were transported to Rhode Island Hospital. He said one person died and two were in critical condition.
Silva said the fire was brought under control, but firefighters were still putting out hot spots.
The chief said about 47 firefighters were at the scene.
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The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known.
Vermont
Opinion — Michael Gaughan and Katy Hansen: Vermont needs to get on the road to risk reduction
This commentary is by Michael Gaughan, the executive director of the Vermont Bond Bank, and Katy Hansen, the director of the Rural and Small Cities Program at the Public Finance Initiative.
Vermont municipalities face a stark reality. The federal support that communities have relied on after disasters may be dramatically reduced in future years. The public will soon see the FEMA Review Council report, which is expected to recommend shifting more disaster response costs to states while also raising the dollar threshold for what qualifies as a federal disaster. Vermont is already confronting this reality with the recent denial of the July 2025 disaster declaration and the related on-again off-again funding for core infrastructure resilience programs.
For a state that has experienced over $240 million in FEMA related municipal damages from flooding in the past three years, the potential reduction in federal support threatens the fiscal and physical structures that undergird our communities. This is a staggering number, representing more than 30% of the Vermont Bond Bank’s current municipal loans, which obscures the threat to individual towns where disaster costs can be overwhelming. Take, for instance, towns such as Lyndon, where an estimated $18 million in damages occurred in 2024, roughly six times the town’s highway budget.
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But this moment of uncertainty is an opportunity for Vermont to take matters into its own hands. Recently, the Bond Bank was selected to participate in the Public Finance Initiative’s Rural and Small Cities program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to receive capacity building and educational support to develop clear guidance alongside our loan programs for communities to reduce the risks caused by extreme weather to their infrastructure. This builds on the Bond Bank’s decades of experience lending to local government and addressing challenges of infrastructure planning and finance. Our team of experts organized stakeholders from across the state to discuss how to spur action while coordinating resources.
As others have noted and the FEMA report is anticipated to make clear, we must take responsibility ourselves and change practices to save Vermont from the inevitable. Thankfully, regional and statewide partners are making progress in developing the tools and know-how to respond to our collective flood risk.
The convening helped the Bond Bank to highlight the largest potential contributor to post-disaster fiscal stress for our municipalities — our municipal roads. This network connects us to families, jobs, schools, grocery stores and hospitals, and is where more than 80% of municipal flood damage has occurred over the last 20 years.
The Bond Bank’s goal is to use its understanding of public finance best practices and the helpful tools from partners like the Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) to drive the development of more capital plans and financial benchmarks that incorporate technical analyses from regional and state partners. Simple at its face, the effort is interdisciplinary and complex in practice. The convening was important to help the Bond Bank develop guidance and spur implementation. The Bond Bank aims to coordinate low-cost financing sources and expand the Municipal Climate Recovery Fund (MCRF) to help communities when disaster strikes. The intent is to turn the recovery cycle on its head: align existing resources to reduce risk before disasters strike and plan for more post-disaster relief.
The MCRF, established in partnership with the State and Treasurer’s Office, has already demonstrated its value. Since launching after the July 2023 floods, it has provided $33 million in loans at just 1.3% interest to 27 Vermont towns, offering seven-year terms with two years interest-only to give communities breathing room as they await potential federal reimbursement. This isn’t flashy, but the point is its practical value. For example, Lyndon received $4 million in MCRF loans that gave them space to deal with critical, immediate needs and time to sort through what the federal government would support.
With engagement from the partners at the convening, an expanded MCRF program, when combined with the capacity of our Vermont banks, would help address our vulnerable road infrastructure by aligning incentives for communities to plan, design and invest in improvements, and if disaster strikes, ensuring that communities can access resources through loans and adaptation grants to build back in the right way.
This approach demands a shift in thinking. It means partners like the Bond Bank need to do everything we can to reduce costs for borrowers while also giving direction on how to take the first step in the financial trade-offs of implementing resilience projects. While this is hard work, it’s also empowering. Instead of waiting for federal aid that might never come, Vermont communities can reduce risk before disasters strike and build resilience on their own.
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