By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer

The Biddeford code enforcement office continues to investigate a weekend porch collapse that sent six people to the hospital.
Deputy Fire Chief Marc Bellefeuille said the collapse at 13 Western Ave. was reported around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. When emergency responders arrived on scene people were “shouting and asking for help,” he said.
Brandon, a Biddeford resident who asked his last name not be used to protect his privacy while he recovered, was on the porch when it collapsed. He stopped by the building to visit a friend he hadn’t seen in a while and stepped onto the second floor porch to smoke a cigarette.
“I opened my beer and the next thing I know I was on the ground,” he said.
Brandon said he crawled out from under a pile of wood and began spitting blood to clear his mouth. He said he looked back and saw other people still lying on the ground. Several of his teeth were knocked out or damaged and he also hurt his knee. Brandon drove himself to the hospital, where he was treated and released early Sunday morning.
Brandon said at least some of the people who fell are still in the hospital, but he didn’t know how they were doing. He said he is in “horrible” pain and is upset about what happened.
“I just can’t believe this happened,” he said. “Six to seven people ain’t a lot of people on a porch. I don’t think it’s right.”
Devlin Turgeon, who lives near the building, said he was sleeping Saturday night when he heard sirens and went outside to see what was going on.
“I saw the porch and I was like ‘Oh, my God,’” he said.
Turgeon said he watched as emergency crews took control of the scene and loaded six people into ambulances. He said he hopes everyone who fell is OK.
Bellefeuille said the supervisor on scene activated a Level 1 response plan, which automatically brought four more ambulances to the building. Ambulances were sent from Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Kennebunk and Arundel. He said it is rare to need that kind of emergency response.
When the porch collapsed, people standing on it fell about 13 feet to the parking lot, where the porch hit a truck and bounced back into the side of the building, Bellefeuille said.
“It was a double fall, a double whammy,” he said.
Bellefeuille said four people were taken to Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford and three people went to Maine Medical Center in Portland. He had no further information on the patients or their conditions.
Deputy Police Chief JoAnne Fisk said investigators are “working diligently” to determine whether the porch collapsed because of faulty installation or because it was overloaded. She said investigators are also trying to determine how many people were on the porch. There could have been as many as 10 people on the porch, she said.
Fisk said city officials are also trying to determine if a building permit was secured for construction of the porch.
Code Enforcement Director Roby Fecteau was not available to answer questions Monday.
Fisk said no further information will be released by city officials until the investigation by code and fire officials is complete.
The four-unit building is owned by Gordon and Joyce Mailman of Saco, according to city tax records. They did not return calls seeking comment by the Courier’s press deadline Monday.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.