A deck, unable to withstand the surge of dancing young adults, collapsed at a Fourth of July party early Monday morning, injuring at least 17 people.
The chaos played out in the rear of a home overlooking a backyard pool in rural Fillmore County, about 70 miles southwest of Lincoln.
Nobody died in the collapse, said Clay County Emergency Manager Tim Lewis, and none of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening, though he classified some of them as critical. One person was suffering seizures after the collapse, and others taken from the scene by ambulance reported broken bones, head trauma and other injuries.
Jai McBeath of Lincoln was sitting on the deck’s edge, watching as about 30 partygoers — including some of her friends — jumped in enthusiasm to a song the DJ had put on.
“It felt like it was a bounce house,†McBeath, 19, told the Journal Star on Monday evening.
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But then the floor gave out, and much of the the deck caved in on itself and those below it. McBeath held onto a railing to keep from falling and watched the chaos unfold below as those in the crowd worked to untangle from others and the debris.
“People were piled on top of each other. It was insane,†she said.
After she was helped down, McBeath — like many others — walked around for a time in disbelief. She found one friend with a gash in her arm and used a bathrobe to fashion a tourniquet. Some curled up in open areas of the backyard and waited for help.
“It was really scary,†said McBeath, who suffered minor injuries but was not hospitalized. “People were really injured.â€
The number of hospitalizations could be much higher than the 17 taken by ambulance, the emergency manager said, as many of the guests — nearly all young adults — left the party in their own vehicles and could have sought medical care in Lincoln or Omaha, where he said most of them lived.
The house, a ranch-style home with a walkout basement and nearby pond, sits alongside County Road D between the small communities of Sutton, Grafton and Henderson.
First responders from several communities in Fillmore and Clay counties provided emergency services at the scene, where video shared by some of those in attendance captured the screams and chaos.
Fillmore County Sheriff William Burgess said he didn't know how many guests were on the deck at the time of the collapse. Lewis said first responders estimated at least 200 were in attendance at the party, with cars parked farther than the eye could see along both sides of the gravel road.
The congestion of the cars, and chaos of those in attendance trying to leave the scene, made it difficult for some emergency vehicles to reach the home.
McBeath said she found out about the party through a social media post and decided to attend with some friends even though it was about an hour west of Lincoln.
“It was the Fourth of July,†she said.
She showed up earlier in the day for a pool party and stuck around for the dance party in the evening, even if she preferred to sit around on her phone. McBeath said alcohol was available.
The deck on the back of the house fell to the level of the walk-out basement — a drop Lewis estimated was between 10 and 12 feet. Sutton firefighters used extrication equipment to clear debris to rescue one person who was trapped beneath a portion of the collapsed deck, Lewis said.
McBeath later went to pick up a friend transported to the York hospital and said she’s grateful she escaped relatively unscathed.
The most severely injured people were taken to Bryan West Campus for treatment, Lewis said.
According to Fillmore County tax records, the 2,400-square-foot home was built in 1998 and the pool added in 2013.