FERNDALE, Md. — A group of people was left injured after a deck collapsed behind what appeared to be a home in Ferndale Sunday afternoon, according to Anne Arundel County Fire Department.
The incident happened on the 400 block of Wistful Vista Court, officials said.
Part of the 6x6 deck collapsed and sent two people to Shock Trauma with serious injuries and left six others with minor injuries.
Officials said the people on the deck were between the ages of two years old and 63 years old.
At this time, the cause of the collapse is unknown. Officials said in a tweet that the section of the deck "failed."
Anne Arundel County Public Information Officer Cpt. Russ Davies said a county building inspector was called to investigate the cause of the collapse. Davies said the deck was not overloaded at the time that it fell.
Davies tells WUSA9 that the two people who were sent to Shock Trauma were the two adults. They were on the deck when it collapsed, and suffered serious injuries.
The 2-year-old child was not seriously hurt, according to Davies.
WUSA9 recently spoke to Donald Masters, the owner of Master Home and Building Inspections, who gave us a list of key things to look into when inspecting your deck structure.
- Check for rust underneath. He said if you see that on the surface, it is probably worse inside.
- See if the deck moves while you're standing on it. That could mean structural instability.
- Make sure the point where the deck connects to the house is secure.
Masters also said it's important to make sure weight is evenly distributed between different supports, so one post isn't bearing significantly more than another.
He said decks need TLC, so if yours is at least 10 years old, he suggested inspecting it every year.
Here are a few helpful deck guides to get you started:
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