None hurt in Oak Grove deck collapse

The collapse of a deck in Oak Grove Tuesday is causing city and fire officials to warn the public to give their decks a once-over at the start of the outdoor patio season.

Five people, including a baby, were on the deck of a house at 16th and Oakridge when it collapsed Tuesday evening, sending them all to the ground. Two received minor injuries, mostly cuts and were treated at a local hospital and released. The others were not injured, said Troy Negrete, assistant chief of the Sni Valley Fire Protection District.

Negrete said the deck collapsed after it broke away from the outer walls of the house. The house was built during the late 1980s, he said.

“If you don’t maintain things and keep an eye on them, something like this can happen,” Negrete said, adding that the several-foot drop to the ground could have resulted in more than minor injuries.

While potentially dangerous when it occurs, decks don’t collapse very often, he said.

Tony Adamson, Oak Grove city building official, said he inspected the deck after it collapsed and noted the deck had pulled away from the ledger plate, or support, that held it to the house, causing the accident. Residents should check their deck’s ledger plate to make certain it’s securely bolted to the house. Wear and tear over the years can cause the supports to deteriorate and weaken, even if they were built to code and securely attached at one time.

He also noticed that the wooden post supports measured 4 feet by 4 feet, which met building codes when the house was constructed. Those posts snapped in two when the deck fell to the ground. However, today’s codes are more strict than they were during the 1980s, and call for support posts measuring 6 feet by 6 feet, he said.

Adamson said if homeowners aren’t sure if their decks are secure, they should call their city’s building inspector to have it checked.

“If it’s not put together properly, anything could happen,” he said.