BY MICHELLE SAHN STAFF WRITER - Posted by the Asbury Park Press
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Seven people were injured when the wooden deck on which they were standing collapsed Saturday evening.
Police said none of the injuries was believed to be life-threatening.
Police were called to the bungalow on the boardwalk at 7:52 p.m. The wooden deck, which was supported by cinder-block piers, had collapsed, and the seven people who had been on the deck were injured, said borough police Lt. Harry DiCorcia.
Five people were taken to Ocean Medical Center in Brick, and two others were taken to an urgent care center in Point Pleasant.
No other information about the victims was available on Saturday night.
The deck was at the back of the house, about 10 feet off the ground, and on the side away from the boardwalk, DiCorcia said.
Some of the cinder blocks that were supporting the deck also collapsed, police said.
New Jersey Natural Gas also responded to shut off a gas line at the home, located at 145 Boardwalk.
Information about the accident will be forwarded to the municipality's code enforcement office for further investigation, police said.
Point Pleasant Beach Fire Companies 1 and 2 also responded to the home, along with first aid squads from both Point Pleasant Beach and Point Pleasant.
Originally posted July 30, 2006
IT WAS INTERESTING TO ME TO READ FROM ANOTHER ACCOUNT THAT 8 PEOPLE WERE HURT AND NOT THE 7 AS REPORTED ABOVE...
DECK COLLAPSES, INJURING 8 PEOPLE
BY JANEEN JONES STAFF WRITER - Posted by the Asbury Park Press
POINT PLEASANT BEACH — Nancy Sullivan was having a family barbecue at the house she and her husband, Daniel, have rented at various times during the past several years when the deck in the back of the house collapsed Saturday night, injuring eight people, including an 18-month-old girl, she said.
"I was screaming. They were screaming. People in these (nearby) houses came running because they could see it going down," Nancy Sullivan, 43, of Paramus said.
She was returning to the deck of the house at 145 Boardwalk, after getting a drink from inside, when, as she followed family friend Rodney Wolfe back to the deck, it began to wobble, she said.
"He got on the deck, and it just started to shake and (then) collapsed," Daniel Sullivan, 46, said.
The part of the deck connected to the house caved as the opposite side farthest from the house toppled over Saturday about 8 p.m., Nancy Sullivan said.
"And there was a fireman, a fire chief, right in front of the house . . . and he heard the crash and came running around the back and before anyone could get out, he got them out," she said.
Firefighter Michael Leahy, 51, of West Windsor was vacationing with his wife and two children near the house when he heard the collapse, he said.
"I'm an EMT, so natural reflexes just kicked in," said Leahy, who is also the fire chief of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company.
"He assessed them. He had everybody laying on the ground here. And he was the first one to call it in to 911," Nancy Sullivan said.
Those injured included Kaitlin Sullivan, the couple's 17-year-old daughter; Lauren Carpenter, 20, and Nicole Carpenter, 16, the couple's nieces; family friend Sue Schatz, 45, of Paramus; family friend Rodney Wolfe of Point Pleasant Beach; and family friend Kerry Koenig, 26, of Paramus along with her New York boyfriend and his 18-month-old daughter Kirsten, according to Nancy Sullivan.
They were taken to local hospitals Saturday night, and all have since been released, she said.
None of the injuries was serious, the couple said. "Thank God no broken bones," Daniel Sullivan added.
A few of them suffered second- and third-degree burns during the collapse, Leahy said.
"There was a charcoal grill that we were using and that's where everyone got burned," Daniel Sullivan said.
Kaitlin Sullivans and Lauren Carpenter were the most seriously injured, with sprained ankles and burns on their bodies, Nancy Sullivan said.
"The grill was on there (the deck) and that came tumbling on my daughter," Daniel Sullivan said.
Schatz was also injured, with burns on her arm and chest, Nancy Sullivan said, adding that the toddler had a cut over her ear.
There was also a propane grill on the deck that the family wasn't using, the couple said. The gas company turned off the gas at the house as a precaution but have since restored it, Nancy Sullivan said.
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, she said.
The Sullivans have been renting the house for the last five or six years from Julie Crowe, of Plumsted, and her husband, Kenny, said Daniel Sullivan.
"She was at the hospital last night. She wanted to make sure everybody was all right," he said. "She's in shock, very upset."
Julie Crowe declined to comment Sunday.
Nancy Sullivan isn't sure what she is going to do now. The family was renting the home for only a week and isn't scheduled to leave until Saturday, she said.
"I don't even want to go to the beach today. I'm done," she said.
Janeen Jones: (732) 888-2619 or jjones@app.com
Originally posted July 31, 2006
