A scary and tense moment at a popular American theme park saw an old wooden roller coaster catch on fire.
The Colossus rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Santa Clarita caught fire just after 1:30 p.m. local time. The ride was closed about three weeks ago for renovations, and on Monday the park was closed. The popular ride drops about 100 feet and can reach speeds up to 100 kilometres per hour.
According to local media reports part of the track completely collapsed and smoke could be seen for kilometres from the highest point of the ride.
The fire at the top of the lift hill at Colossus is now out. The park was closed today and there were no injuries.
— Six Flags MM (@SFMagicMountain) September 8, 2014
On Twitter Six Flags stated that there were no injuries as a result of the fire and contractors were working on disassembly of the ride. The local fire department also stated on Twitter that the fire started while work was being done.
#colossus fire out no visitors at park. LACoFD working to shore up ride. Fire started while work was being done on ride.
— LACoFD Division 3 (@LACoFDDiv3) September 8, 2014
Footage from the collapse and blaze has been posted on social media and shows just how much damage was done to the old wooden structure. The rollercoaster was set to be replaced by another ride called “Twisted Colossus.”
*Cover photo credit: Screen Grab
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