A family’s Memorial Day celebration turned dangerous when the porch they were on collapsed from the third floor of an apartment building in suburban Evanston.
Four people suffered minor injuries and several others were treated after the scene after the porch gave way in the 1900 block of Darrow Avenue, fire officials said.
Raven Jaffe, who was inside the apartment at the time of the collapse, said family and friends had gathered at her mother’s home at the time for a Memorial Day gathering.
“We were having a family barbecue when the porch collapsed,” she said. “You hear it breaking and just a whole bunch of commotion.”
More than a dozen people were on the structure, many of them sitting, at the time of the collapse.
Fire officials said several people were treated at the scene and four people were transported to an area hospital.
Officials suspect the cause of collapse was “overloading.”
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“My mom has told the landlord multiple times that the porch needed to be fixed,” Jaffe said. “Unfortunately today there were a lot of people on the back porch having a good time.”
Evanston Fire Chief Tom Janetske said it wasn’t clear if any reports had been filed about the porch but said the building department was notified of the collapse.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.
Gary Gerdes, manager of the Evanston Building and Inspection Services, said at the scene Tuesday morning that a preliminary investigation revealed the porch was not properly attached to the apartment.
Gerdes said inspectors will look into the history of the building and its owner, along with the potential overloading, before determining if anyone is at fault.
