A porch roof collapsed during a St. Patrick’s Day party in Oakland, Pennsylvania, falling onto the crowd of hundreds of people and leaving 16 injured.
Hundreds of people were celebrating St. Patrick’s Day outside a group of homes on Semple Street near the University of Pittsburgh when the incident occurred. When the roof collapsed, dozens of those partiers were standing on top of the roof despite its obvious lack of structural integrity.
BREAKING: A porch roof collapsed during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration on Semple Street. This is a developing story. pic.twitter.com/Axr2YXGPV9
— The Pitt News (@ThePittNews) March 14, 2025
All of the injured people are expected to survive, though three were listed in serious condition at the hospital, while the remaining 13 had only sustained minor injuries.
Local CBS-affiliate news station KDKA-TV interviewed several students who were at the party when the roof collapsed, with multiple people telling the news station that they had rushed in to help pull some victims out by lifting the collapsed roof.
“I was just scared for everybody that was down there,” Dave Rentzel, who was at the party, told KDKA-TV. “I was just sitting to the side and I saw it fall down.”
Michael Estocin, who was standing on the roof when it collapsed, told the outlet: “It all just happened in the blink of an eye, the roof just collapsed on us, it felt so scary, I really don’t have the words to comprehend how I felt in the moment.”
Carlton Gbur, who was standing under the roof when it collapsed, stated: “It just fell. Everyone was having fun and then no one was having fun.”
Pittsburgh Public Information Officer Emily Bourne also told the outlet that there were roughly 300-500 students in the courtyard when the roof collapsed. Bourne also warned students that they should be feeling lucky right now, as the incident could have been much worse. The University of Pittsburgh has since sent out a memo to all students urging them to stay off of roofs if they plan to attend another party in the future.
The scene of the incident was later cleared and authorities have since determined that the rest of the building was structurally sound, though the rear porch area was condemned.
