How the inventor of the bouncy castle saved lives | Features

On November 29, 1972, a fire broke out in the high-rise Rault Center, in downtown New Orleans. As firefighters struggled to reach the blaze and television cameras rolled, five women trapped in a beauty salon on the 15th floor had to make an impossible decision: remain in the burning building, or leap.

One by one, they jumped, aiming for the roof of a neighbouring six-storey building. Four of the women died.

At the time, a 46-year-old engineer and fellow New Orleanian had been toying with an…