TAMWORTH, NH — Dozens of first responders were sent to a North Country wedding venue on Saturday afternoon after a report of people falling through the floor.
Just before 4:45 p.m., dispatchers for Carroll County began receiving reports of injuries after the floor of the Sap House at the Preserve at Chocorua reportedly collapsed. The first report led local fire and rescue teams to respond. The second round of personnel were told people were “stuck underneath beams and farm equipment” in the basement of the building.
The first arriving firefighters said “multiple tractors” were involved in the incident and they were focusing on evacuating people from the Tap House. They also said they did not think there would be many transports, but rather a lot of treatment activity.
Other fire squads offered to help. A fire commander responded there was a lot of debris trapping people, leading to a “mass casualty” call.
“We’re just trying to figure out how many victims we have right now,” they said. “Half the floor has collapsed into the basement.”
The fire commander said there were at least 100 people at the scene, and everyone would need to be accounted for and interviewed as witnesses. Just before 5 p.m., the commander said there were at least a few dozen people still trapped inside the building. The guest list included at least 145 guests, the commander said.
At least four more ambulances were requested, with a third commander saying, “I don’t care where you get them from.”
About 15 minutes later, police were requested to bring stationery and writing utensils to start collecting witness statements. A medflight was requested for a man with serious injuries, including multiple fractures. Manpower and personnel for crowd control were also requested. The New Hampshire State Fire Marshal was also requested.
According to the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office, six people were taken to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries. There were no fatalities, according to a report on the department’s Facebook site. Four of those hospitalized have since been released.
The department assumed the lead on the investigation, which remains active.
Venue staff and wedding guests provided first aid to many injured people. Ladders were used to help people who were trapped in the basement.
“The preliminary investigation has determined that at the start of the wedding ceremony, 144 guests were in the venue’s Sap House building when the floor collapsed and nearly 70 people, about half of the guests, fell through an approximately 20-by-20-foot opening into the basement,” according to the fire marshal’s office. “While the investigation is in its early stages, investigators believe the building was over capacity prior to the floor collapse.”
The incident was deemed a “mass casualty” incident due to the number of injuries, not due to deaths. No deaths have been reported from the scene at the time of publication.
Editor’s note: The name of the building where the collapse took place has been corrected.
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