At least five people were injured at a party Friday night when the deck of a rental house east of IU’s campus collapsed. Most of those hurt were below the deck, which sat atop a small walkout basement entrance.
The Bloomington Fire Department responded to the incident on N Bryan Ave. at 10:29 p.m. alongside IU LifeLine, the IU Police Department and the Bloomington Police Department. By the time first responders arrived about four minutes later, partygoers had moved the collapsed deck off several people who were trapped underneath.
The BFD reported IU LifeLine administered patient care on the scene and took at least five injured people by ambulance. It transported them to IU Health Methodist in Indianapolis and IU Health Bloomington Hospital, according to IU Health spokesperson Sophie Wolanin.
Archived EMS calls from around 5 a.m. Saturday show emergency responders transported four young women (at least three of them 18) to Methodist in stable condition via LifeLine helicopters for treatment of fractures and other injuries caused by the collapse.
The Monroe County Building Department will inspect the house Wednesday, according to county attorney Juston Roddye, but currently has no information to share about its condition. BPD Deputy Chief Ryan Pedigo said the deck collapse “was not believed to have been caused by a criminal act.”
The city added that Bloomington’s department of Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) was in contact with the property manager “to assess tenant safety, rather than investigate the cause of the collapse.”
Future action?
In a press release, the BFD said that while Bloomington has no codes related to decks and their occupancy, “this incident presents an opportunity to evaluate whether additional safety standards are warranted.”
It’s not the first time students have been injured by collapsing decks and balconies in Bloomington. In 2013, the Herald Times reported a porch holding 15 to 20 people detached from a building on East 15th Street. In 2014, a railing gave out during a party at an East 8th Street balcony, injuring at least four. Students have diedfalling over railings.
Kenny Liford, a neighborhood compliance officer with HAND, said it’s too early to speculate on the cause of Friday’s collapse. As with all rental properties in the city, HAND inspects the house every few years.
“It was inspected I believe in 2023, and they received a five-year permit,” Liford said. To qualify for a five-year permit, he explained, a property cannot receive any violations.
At that time, the property owners installed a guardrail on the open side of the porch, as the city requested.
As a rule, decks should be as stable as any other floor. The International Code Council set 40 pounds per square foot as the minimum load bearing requirement for balconies and decks – the same as most interior areas of a house.
Deck and floor collapses are more common near universities, where large numbers of occupants are more likely to be jumping or dancing, according to an article published in the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. So far, authorities have not confirmed whether that sort of activity was taking place.
Such accidents are also more likely on decks that are older and haven’t undergone recent maintenance. As of 2024, the North American Deck and Railing Association estimated 30 million decks in the United States had exceeded their useful lifespan.
Liford said when HAND officers inspect a property, they check a deck for visual signs of damage and test the stability of stairs and guardrails. The Bryan Ave. house passed its most recent inspection, but he urged renters and property owners to notify HAND if they have concerns about a structure’s security.
“Myself or one of my coworkers would go out, and we would inspect the deck,” Liford said. “I really would like to stress that to anybody who's renting in the city, if you think something is unsafe or a problem, say something. Call and ask.”
The rental house belongs to Weybright Management, an Indianapolis-based company that offers rentals to hundreds of students at IU, Butler, Manchester University, Ball State and Marian University. It did not respond to a request for comment.
