# Tragedy in Chicago **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222 "2003-06-29T22:02:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/1 "2003-06-29T22:02:46Z")
My apologies if someone has posted a previous thread on this subject. Good God, how sad. Being from Texas, this reminds me of the Texas A&M tragedy a few years ago. [http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/062903dnnatporch.20138.html](http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/062903dnnatporch.20138.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/2 "2003-06-29T22:19:37Z")
I saw this at another paper today. Makes me think of all the parties I’ve been to where I did start wondering whether a deck or balcony was up to the task. The story I saw said there are 12 dead, mostly from lower stories that had it come down on their heads. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/3 "2003-06-29T22:51:12Z")
> **[MSNBC News - Breaking News and News Today | Latest News](https://www.msnbc.com/)** > > MSNBC breaking news and the latest news for today. Get daily news from local news reporters and world news updates with live audio & video from our team. Non-membership link above. Goodness, that’s awful. ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/4 "2003-06-29T22:55:03Z")
Tragic. Look at those flimsy wooden support beams on those balconies! ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/5 "2003-06-29T23:00:50Z")
50 people dancing on that balcony? Its fairly obvious it wouldn’t hold that. Tragic. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/6 "2003-06-29T23:21:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joe K \* > \*\*[http://www.msnbc.com/news/932660.asp](http://www.msnbc.com/news/932660.asp) > > Non-membership link above. > > Goodness, that’s awful. \*\* Thank you…it didn’t occur to me that I was linking to a site which required registration. Sadness beyond words… ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/7 "2003-06-29T23:45:56Z")
Very sad. I have to agree with **samarm** , though. If the article is correct and there were 50 people on the porch, some of them dancing, along with kegs of beer stored there, it really isn’t a stretch to imagine something like this happening. It doesn’t look like it’s much bigger than my balcony - I can’t imagine how packed it was. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/8 "2003-06-30T03:02:40Z")
This happened to the former chair of my department. Brand new house, had a party, deck collapsed. It happened some years before I knew him but heard about it later. I think there were some pretty serious injuries, enough so that I never had the guts to ask him more about about it. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/9 "2003-06-30T04:37:16Z")
Same thing happened in my city in May, only nobody was killed. ---
**Author:** ![Nimbokwezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bcef8e/32.png) [@Nimbokwezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nimbokwezer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/10 "2003-06-30T04:55:53Z")
Eileen Lupton (one of the victims) was the sister of a girl in my graduating class. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/11 "2003-06-30T05:09:11Z")
A little bit personal, there, **Nimbokwezer**. I’m sorry to hear that. ---
**Author:** ![Necromancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@Necromancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necromancer)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/12 "2003-06-30T08:05:41Z")
I’ve read a few stories over the years of similar incidents occuring. What a tragedy. **Nimbokwezer** , I’m sorry to read about Eileen. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/13 "2003-06-30T10:02:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LolaCocaCola \* > Look at those flimsy wooden support beams on those balconies! Not really. I lived in Chicago 15 years, I’m very famillar with that sort of porch. They’re really intended to just be something to allow access to the rear doors of apartments. They have an advantage over metal because they don’t get as slick in winter or in rain. There are pretty strict rules on number of supports, height limits, etc. They’ve been using simillar designs since the 19th Century. Normally they’re very reliable. However, they are NOT intended to support 50 people + beer kegs! It’s an over-grown fire escape, not a dance hall. This is not the first porch collapse, just the largest I’ve heard of. In most cases the problem is too many people in too small a space, exceeding the load bearing capacity of the structure. Of course, the building inspectors have already descended on the site. But it may be that the porch was sound and the problem was just too many people in one spot. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/14 "2003-06-30T13:17:21Z")
When you get a bunch of drunk young people partying on the deck, they’re not thinking about how many people it can hold. Luckily, there is no evidence of criminal misconduct, i.e., corner-cutting in the building of the decks or anything like that. It’s a very sad situation. It seems this happens every summer in Chicago. Outside of personal policing of these sorts of things, I don’t know what the answer would be. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/15 "2003-06-30T13:25:03Z")
Initial feedback from inspectors is: No record of a building permit on file, but deck was new and built to specs. No criminal negligence. Too many people in one spot, exceeding load capacity. ---
**Author:** ![Gundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Gundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/16 "2003-06-30T14:09:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalhoun \* > \*\*It seems this happens every summer in Chicago. Outside of personal policing of these sorts of things, I don’t know what the answer would be. \*\* I was just going to post this. And it’s always in Lincoln Park. Something about drunken recent college grads seems to invite this situation. ---
**Author:** ![Harli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c0e974/32.png) [@Harli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harli)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/17 "2003-06-30T14:17:12Z")
It definitely is not a rare occurrence. It’s just a matter of people disregarding safety so that they can have a good time. This happened at a Future Shop (think Best Buy) house party a couple years ago in Oakville, Ontario. A friend of my brother’s, who is now also a good friend of mine, was in traction for 6 months, was told he’d walk with a cane for the rest of his life, and he was only 35. He’s been in physiotherapy since it happened, and no longer needs his cane, but he still has a noticeable limp. My buddy is also now terribly afraid of any and all balcony-type structures. It makes you think. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/18 "2003-06-30T14:31:01Z")
[Obits](http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGATHE3KKHD.html) of those who died (hope the link works). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/19 "2003-06-30T15:20:51Z")
I’ve seen people not just overloading those things but even jumping up and down on them. It’s a credit to the design and the inspectors that more people don’t die on them. I have been dead drunk and I’ve done a lot of dumb things when I was but I like to think I’ve never been so out of it to not be able to to look around and say, “Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” when faced with a bunch of people on a Chicago “overgrown fire escape,” to use Broomstick’s highly accurate description. As you can see from the photos, those things are packed with ten people on them. Fifty is insanely irresponsible. I feel bad for anybody who was mashed into a corner as some jerks forced their way on to, I’m guessing, see just how many people could fit. ---
**Author:** ![jillzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/278dde/32.png) [@jillzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jillzy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222/20 "2003-06-30T16:14:47Z")
The story in the [Chicago Sun-Times](http://www.suntimes.com) has an overview of balcony collapses in the Chicago area over the past few years. Wrigleyville, Lincoln Park and Lakeview lead the list. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tragedy-in-chicago/185222.md?page=2)