A 37-year-old man named Jose Martinez-Hernandez died when the apartment balcony he loved collapsed beneath him. The Kaufman, TX balcony collapse sent him plunging 12 feet to the ground. Residents of the Windtree Apartments complex say that Mr. Martinez-Hernandez used to enjoy spending time on his balcony. They also say that they had recently observed work crews removing metal support ribs from the balconies. The residents say that after removing the supports, the crews packed up and left without completing the jobs. News reports say that investigations of the Kaufman, TX balcony collapse accident continue.
After the man lost his life in the Kaufman, TX balcony collapse, inspectors came to examine the Windtree Apartments’ balconies. The inspectors deemed more than 24 of the balconies unsafe and gave the residents 48 hours to vacate. (This 24 represents more than 1/3 of the complex’s 60 units.) This seems to place the burden for landlord neglect on the residents. Would it not be better to give the landlord 48 hours to initiate repairs?
The Windtree Apartments were built in 1973 during an era when Texas metro areas saw large numbers of apartment complexes going up quickly all over the state. The Windtree Apartments complex lists itself as an “income restricted” community. All structures deteriorate with time. As they age, structural defects develop from building materials failures, “settling,” corrosion, drying/rotting wood, weather and pest damage, and a host of other factors. And low-income apartments tend to suffer more from landlord neglect and poor maintenance than more expensive units.
The combination of landlord neglect and an aging apartment complex provides a recipe for disaster. And if work crews did indeed remove key structural supports for the balconies prior to Mr. Martinez-Hernandez’s fatal accident, this changes the game. It moves Windtree Apartments’ landlord negligence beyond standard neglect into a more active form of negligence. Gross negligence and wanton and willful negligence can result in much stiffer penalties to the negligent party than standard (ordinary) landlord negligence.
If you’ve suffered a structural or balcony collapse accident due to landlord negligence, you may be eligible to recover financial compensation for your injuries. If you have lost a beloved family to such an accident, you may have a valid wrongful death lawsuit. You can call us today for a free consultation to discuss your case and the pressing questions you may have about the accident. Call today. The call is free. The information you could receive is priceless.
A balcony collapse over the summer during a birthday party at a rented house in Ruidoso, NM sent about 20 – 25 people tumbling about 25 feet to the ground and through a lower balcony in between. Some victims managed to cling to dangling pieces of the structure. 1 victim was in the hospital on a respirator fighting for life. Another victim had severe back and pelvic injuries. Several other adult victims had broken bones and concussions. Witnesses say the outcome of the birthday party balcony collapse could have been much worse if anyone had been on the lower balcony when the collapse occurred. First responders said pieces of the balcony were still falling when they arrived at the scene.
So the question is: what turned a cheerful Ruidoso, NM birthday party get together into a balcony collapse disaster that changed the venue to hospital waiting rooms? Some of the more obvious possibilities include:
* The advanced age of the structure,
* Un-braced 4×4 posts holding a balcony up more than 25 feet in the air,
* Improper fasteners holding parts of the structure together and to the house, and
* More weight on the balcony than the structure could safely support.
The news reports quote local inspectors mentioning an obvious lesson among the fallen debris of the birthday party balcony collapse. The inspectors specifically indicate “warped wood” and “signs that the balcony are pulling away from the home” in addition to the age of the structure. They say that the weather is “real tough on wood” in Ruidoso, NM.
The height of that balcony made it especially imperative to adequately brace and fasten all structural supports. Given the obvious height of the balcony, even extremely well-fastened joists could pull away from the house if the balcony experienced an excessive weight load. A highly technical, but interesting, discussion of the difficulties involved in adequately securing a balcony to its house, stemming from this very Ruidoso, NM balcony collapse, can be read at this builders’ website.
1. From my read, it sounds like an initial design flaw (inadequate bracing of very tall supporting posts) might have a role in the balcony collapse disaster.
2. Then, weathering of the wood and other building materials over time took its toll on the structure.
3. The home’s owner may have neglected to put any effort forth to maintain or repair the balcony (since the news report indicates warped wood and signs that the balcony was already tearing away from the home).
4. Finally, a birthday party sent a large number of people out onto the balcony, possibly with additional furniture and coolers full of drinks. The heavy weight load provided the final catalyst to pull the balcony off its moorings to the house.
The Ruidoso, NM balcony collapse bears some similarities to a deck collapse near Golden, CO that injured about a dozen victims. The sad fact is that injuries, even fatalities, from balcony and deck collapse accidents occur frequently. These collapses can range in size from an apartment balcony collapse that injures a single individual to the collapse of a structure hosting a large celebration.
A balcony collapse can lead to serious head traumas, spinal injuries, broken bones, organ damage, and deep lacerations. Injured victims may need help to meet their medical expenses from the accident. If you’ve been injured, our experienced balcony collapse lawyers could help you recover the financial compensation you need to meet the burdens of your medical expenses and get on with life. Call now.
The summer of 2011 will be remembered by some as a summer of deadly structural collapses at high-profile outdoor concert events. A surprising number of deadly and injurious outdoor stage collapses have made the news in recent years. Some of these events include:
* The August 18, 2011 collapse of an outdoor concert stage in Belgium;
* August 13, 2011: the outdoor stage collapses at the Indiana State Fairgrounds;
* The overhead rigging collapses during a Flaming Lips outdoor concert in Tulsa;
* July 17, 2011: stage collapses at Bluesfest in Ottawa, Canada during high wind; and
* Stage scaffolding collapse on August 1, 2009 kills 1 and injures 75 at Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta, Canada.
These particular structural collapses all occurred during wind or storm events. Reports tend to lay the blame for the outdoor stage collapses on the weather. But you can’t ignore the potential culpability of those who provided the stage structure equipment, those who designed the structure, and those who assembled it. Indications show that at least in some of these outdoor concert events, concert organizers and managers failed to take proper actions in warning and evacuating guests when storms developed.
If you’ve been injured by a structural collapse, you don’t want those who caused your injuries to escape the financial costs of their negligence by assigning all the blame to the weather. You can’t call the weather to court to account for its actions. But you can call event organizers, stage designers, and equipment providers, among others. Especially if your loved one died in a structural collapse at an anticipated concert event, you need justice, closure and recompense for your loss.
Denena & Points could provide the sound legal counsel and help you need after you’ve been injured by a structural collapse. We have solid, successful experience in tracking down the true causes of structural collapses and holding the culpable parties financially accountable for their negligence. If you’re suffering because of a structural collapse and you don’t know where to turn for help and sound advice, kindly give us a call at (877) 307-9500. We have the experience, knowledge and skill that you need to win your claim for accident compensation because of your losses from the tragic accident.