Monday, May 31, 2010

Pool deck collapses into Jamaica Bay


From NBC 4:

What began as a fun Memorial Day celebration ended with a near tragedy in Mill Basin, after a deck collapsed into Jamaica Bay.

[15-year old Claudine] Amsalem said the family had just set up a 15-by-4 foot above-ground pool yesterday on the deck of their new home at 2358 National Drive. The family had been swimming in the pool all morning and afternoon and several people had gotten out of the pool to get ready for dinner. Ten to fifteen minutes later, the deck collapsed.

Thankfully, 4 year old Henny Needelman was wearing floaties on her arms in the pool. When the deck and pool collapsed into Jamaica Bay, family members say Henny floated in the water until her father and cousin could help pull them up to safety.

9 year old Eleanor Amsalem was the most seriously injured.

One neighbor said she was taken into the ambulance with cuts and scrapes, bleeding from the head. A third girl, between 16 and 17 years old was the least injured. All three were sent to Kings County Hospital by ambulance.

Neighbors who wish to remain anonymous told News 4 that the decks which are supported only by piles and beams were never designed to hold a lot of weight. A 15-by-4 foot pool, once filled, can weigh as much as 13-thousand pounds and much more when people actually climb into it.

"I'm just glad that all my sisters and my cousin were pulled out safely," said Claudine. "This could have been much, much worse."

An inspector from the New York City Buildings Department responded to the collapse and cited the landlord with a violation.

11 comments:

Joe said...

What Dopes !
A 4X15 Feet pool is 2500 gallons X 8 pounds per gallons not including the people.
Sound like it was a sneak home brew add-on.

Anonymous said...

Gives new meaning to "All hands on deck."

Anonymous said...

DOB could have a field day with some of the other waterside violations in Mill Basin. Pools on decks aren't the only hazardous stupidities that exist there.

kozel said...

I saw it on the news. It was a rental. The tenant was blaming the landlord for substandard construction of the deck. The DOB issued the landlord a summons. The tenant installed the pool only days ago. I assume they installed it themselves because they weren't blaming a pool company too. Maybe they should also blame their teachers in school. You can't fix stupid.

Anonymous said...

You are all stupid!

It was not the familys fault!

any geniouse has a pool or hot tub on the deck, and the deck itself is fkd up.

Joe said...

Tenants responsible for putting over 10 tons of water on a wooden deck certified for 2 ton's.

The landlord is an ass for not watching what was going or or renting to idiot's.
This is what happens when you rent your house via a licensed agent or in a public listing.
You can't discriminate and end up with dopy people in the house that are gonna destroy it.
The neighbors also said must have been over 30 people living in the house.

kozel said...

10 tons? Do the math. 15' round x 4' deep is about 707 cu ft. at 7.49 gals per cu ft, that's 5,294 gallons of water. A gallon weighs 8.35 pounds, so that's 44,200 pounds (22 tons). A Hummer H2 has a curb weight of 6,000 pounds so that's like parking over 7 Hummers on a wood deck. Then add people. It's beyond stupid.

Anonymous said...

kozel - Thank you for displaying your math skills. All the articles, blogs, etc. discussing weights under 10 tons (initial guess I had before hearing pool dimensions) drove me crazy. You beat me to the logical punch.

Anonymous said...

You are all very rude but you are right

Anonymous said...

MY MOTHER AND FATHER should not have put that pool on the deck but theyou ain't stupid
I am henny by the way.

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