14 hurt in deck collapse

Structure filled with partygoers was attached to second story

By GINGER GIBSON
The News Journal

A combination birthday-graduation-anniversary party at a home in the Harmony Woods subdivision near Christiana ended badly Saturday night when a second-story outdoor deck collapsed under the weight of about two dozen people.

Police said 14 people were taken to Christiana Hospital in nine ambulances for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, the most serious of which was a man with a broken lower left leg.

The accident occurred at a home in the 100 block of Fantasia Drive in Harmony Woods, just north of Del. 4. Calls reporting the deck collapse were received at 9:10 p.m.

Hank Smith, assistant fire chief at Christiana Fire Company, said the deck gave way under the weight of the people crowded onto it. The injuries were caused by the impact of the wooden structure hitting the ground after a fall of about 10 feet from the back of the house.

One man was hurt when a barbecue grill landed on him.

Smith said two children were among those taken to Christiana, one complaining of back pain and the other of head pain. The other injuries included back pain, neck pain, sprains and head trauma.

Smith said in his 25 years with the fire company he had never seen a deck collapse. Ambulances from nine fire companies responded to the accident, plus two New Castle County Paramedic units.

The deck was supported by four wooden beams beneath the flat structure. After the collapse, the contents of the deck were scattered across the backyard and a metal swing was broken on top of the wreckage.

One neighborhood teen, who did not give his name, said he saw the collapse as he rode his bike down the street. The support beams underneath all just snapped at once, bringing the structure down quickly, he said.

Jim Smith, 60, who lives across the street, said the home was built in the summer of 1979 and the deck was attached six or seven years ago, when the owners remodeled the house.

Pam Deputula, 62, who lives two doors down from the collapse, said she was sitting in her backyard and heard cheering from the deck. As she walked into her home moments later, she heard a loud crack and then screaming.

"I heard a scream and a crash," she said. "A guy was screaming 'Oh God, oh God.' "