Credit: First Coast News
More than a dozen people were injured after a deck collapsed on Sunday, St. Johns County Fire Rescue says.
SJCFR says that at around 12:30 p.m., crews responded to a private residence in the 2400 block of South Ponte Vedra Boulevard (A1A) after a two-story deck collapsed.
Due to the amount of reported injuries, SJCFR says that a “Level 1 Mass Casualty Incident” response was initiated.
According to Fire Rescue, 13 people were hurt. Although most of the injuries were considered minor, two people were taken to a trauma center while six went to a local hospital. All are expected to recover.
“That house is rented quite a bit,” said Frank Recco, who lives a few homes down from where the collapse happened. “There’s always different people on the beach that we see.”
Recco is used to walking down to the beach and seeing plenty of people visiting the house just a few doors down,
However, Sunday brought something he and his son are not used to seeing.
“Two fire trucks and a bunch of ambulances and we weren’t sure what happened,” said Recco’s son, Nicholas Recco. “To hear the deck collapsed is pretty insane. Pretty scary, yeah. Saw a bunch of stretchers going up to the house and coming out with people.”
The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, but a spokesperson for the department sees it as an opportunity to remind people to regularly get decks inspected.
“Making sure all the connections are good, they’re not rusted through and there’s not a lot of rotted wood, areas of concern,” said SJCFR Spokesperson Chris Naff. “This house is on the ocean, so deteriorating decks, over time, gets a little more weathered on the ocean side.”
As the firetrucks cleared out, several neighbors took a walk down the beach to get a look at the damage firsthand.
“Stayed at a bunch of rentals along this stretch and had various experiences with the decks, never any serious structural issues,” said Brian Mink while looking up at the house. “Never thought I’d see a deck collapse like that along here.”
Seeing the caution tape left behind has Recco grateful he doesn’t have his own deck to deal with.
“Some of these older houses have those old, wood decks,” said Recco. “They’re a hazard. They should be looked at.”
A sign sat at the front of the house, indicating it was a short-term rental.
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Source: firstcoastnews
