POSTED: 1:39 pm EDT October 12, 2011
UPDATED: 6:59 pm EDT October 12, 2011
MELROSE, Mass. -- A man died Wednesday after a porch collapsed on him in Melrose, sources tell NewsCenter 5.George Carroll, 77, was killed when the deck collapsed at 21 Bow St. at about 12:51 p.m.
Officials said Carroll, the owner of the home, was working with his son, trying to make some repairs to the deck behind his house when the deck collapsed on top of him."
I just saw the deck. I think George was under it," neighbor Veronica Walker said.Emergency crews had to use air bags to lift the deck off him."It didn't really make much noise. I just know you could see his legs, and the deck was right down on top of him," another neighbor said.The fire department said Carroll and his son were working on shoring up the deck when it broke away."This area is wet, and it looks like the deck had settled. So the father and son were trying to shore it up when it gave way and trapped him," Melrose Fire Department Capt. Ed Collina said.Carroll was taken to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital where he died, sources said.Carroll's wife, Janet, was so distraught that she was taken to the hospital also as a precaution.
