10 hours ago
Terrifying video shows cheaply-built deck collapse as toddler prepared to blow out candles at 3rd birthday party
Shocking footage captured the moment a cheaply built deck collapsed as a toddler celebrated his Spider-Man-themed third birthday party.
The young son of Hilary and Tony Loffredo was seen preparing to blow out his candles when the deck outside their home in West Des Moines, Iowa suddenly crumbled underneath them.
'The kids were crying and we all were screaming, 'Oh my gosh, what do we do?'' Hilary told KCCL.
She said around 20 people had gathered for her son's birthday and were eagerly awaiting his Spider-Man themed cake when the deck caved in seconds before they could tuck in.
'There were some people down trapped between the deck and the house and the grill was on top of them,' Hilary continued.
'We were passing the kids from person to person up to the house to get them safe because we weren't sure when the other part of the deck was going to fall and collapse.'
Emergency services raced to the home, and due to the number of people involved the West Des Fire Department upgraded their response to a mass casualty incident to bring more fire trucks and ambulances to the home.
Thankfully no children or parents were seriously injured in the collapse, with Tony suffering the worst of the impact as he required stitches on his knee.
The young son of Hilary and Tony Loffredo was seen preparing to blow out his candles when the deck outside their home in West Des Moines, Iowa suddenly fell apart
Tony said: 'I looked down just under my knee and it's just blood running down my knee and I'm like, 'Oh great.'
'Obviously, it could have been way worse. Very fortunate that was the only thing that really had blood or stitched up.'
West Des Fire Marshal Mike Whitsell told KCCI that although the party attendees were okay, when they first arrived on the scene it was a 'very scary situation.'
The Loffredos said they bought the home in 2019 after the previous owners put up the wooden deck, and recently had an inspection that found it was not up to scratch.
'The previous homeowners hired a local contractor to put this deck up with the roof that is over it and apparently some corners were cut, some things were forgot,' Hilary said.
Whitsell said that while a deck suddenly collapsing is rare, there are some things that homeowners can question to find out if they are at risk.
'How old is your deck? Do you have rotted boards that are on there? Have you had your deck inspected?' he said.
'If you've moved into a newer home or a home that maybe somebody had previously, you might just want to have somebody take a look at that.'
For the Loffredos, they said they didn't let the incident ruin their son's birthday, and they went on to celebrate with another cake at a bowling alley later in the day (pictured)
For the Loffredos, they said they didn't let the incident ruin their son's birthday.
'We rushed out to the store and just bought a cake. We sang happy birthday to him not here. We went to Spare Time and did it and sang happy birthday to him. He was so excited. All he cared about was the cake,' Hilary said.
In a Facebook post, She added that a total of two firetrucks, an ambulance, and five police cars showed up, but said thankfully, 'It could have been much worse!'
'I don't think the Birthday Boy, or any of us, are going to forget this Birthday Party for a long time!' she said.
