7 Hurt In Balcony Collapse, Including 3 Children: 'Like In Slow Motion'
GREELEY, Colo. (CBS4) - Seven people were hurt when a balcony collapsed in Greeley on Monday evening, three of them children. Fortunately there were no serious injuries.
There were at least two adults sitting on the top level balcony and two children on the middle level balcony when it collapsed at an apartment in the 1100 block of 26th Avenue.
Three people were taken to the hospital but no one was seriously injured. The injuries consist of sprains, bruises, scratches and stitches.
"Next thing we know we just started falling. It was like in slow motion, we just started falling," said Cristi Myers, who was on the balcony. "It's just … it's unreal … it is, it was scary."
"I heard a big crack and I looked over and I heard a little crack and then it just all dropped," said witness Dakota Moore, who helped rescue victims. "I ran over and I saw a kid under the rubble, so I pulled him out, started moving boards off."
At the complex on Monday there were signs the property's owner is making improvements, but resident's question why that wasn't done before.
The building obtained its Certificate of Occupancy in July 1970, 45 years ago, which means that it passed building inspections at that time from the City of Greeley. Once that happens there is no city requirement to ever inspect the building again, according to Tim Swanson, Chief Building Official for the City Of Greeley.
Once a residential structure is built, the city relies on the property owner to watch for signs of aging and maintain the property.
The apartment complex is three stories tall with a single column of wood balconies on the second and third levels. The cause of the collapse is being investigated but Swanson attributes the cause to age with nails pulling out of the wood which caused the structure to pull away from the building.
"As far as I can tell it was built properly, it was a maintenance issue at the time," Swanson said.
Swanson plans to send a letter to other nearby property owners with aging structures, encouraging them to get their decks inspected.
The property's owner did not return calls from CBS4.