Rotted wood eyed in fatal Calif. balcony collapse

BERKELEY, CALIF. -- Berkeley mayor Tom Bates said Wednesday the investigation into the deadly balcony collapse points to water-damaged wood. Bates said investigators believe the support beams may not have been sealed properly at the time of construction.

Bates said it was "obviously a bad idea" for 13 people to crowd onto such a small balcony but added that he is not blaming the victims.

"More than likely, it was caused by rain and water damage that was caused to the support beams," he said.

Cassandra Bujarski, a spokeswoman for the apartments' property management firm, Greystar, had no comment.

One outside expert observing the investigation said that the balcony's wooden beams appeared to be so badly deteriorated they were crumbling in engineers' hands.

Victims' loved ones made their way toward Berkeley from Ireland as investigators Wednesday tried to pinpoint the cause of a balcony collapse that left six people dead and seven seriously injured.

The accident happened early Tuesday, during a 21st birthday party involving a group of Irish students spending the summer in California. Five 21-year-olds from Ireland were killed, along with a young woman from California.

"My heart breaks for the parents," Prime Minister Enda Kenny said from Dublin. The small fifth-floor balcony was crammed with 13 people when it broke loose from an apartment building less than a decade old, dumping partygoers about 50 feet onto the pavement.

Investigators are looking at such things as whether the balcony was built to code, whether it was overloaded and whether exposure to the elements weakened it.

Darrick Hom, an Oakland-based structural engineer and president of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California, said the broken wooden beams were "coming off in chunks" in the hands of investigating engineers Tuesday. He said it was surprising to see such deterioration in a building just 8 years old. Normally, any building material - wood, steel or concrete - that will be exposed to the elements requires weatherproofing at the time of construction, Hom said. Investigators will probably look at how that weatherproofing was carried out at Library Gardens, he said.

The LA Times reported dry rot could be a factor. Engineers who visited the scene told the Times it appeared to be a classic case of dry rot, meaning water intruded into the building and rotted the wood.

Nothing in the state code requires follow-up inspections of balconies after a building receives a certificate of occupancy, unless there is major remodeling, said Brian Ferguson, deputy director of the state Department of General Services.

Berkeley officials said the building code at the time of the apartment house's construction in 2007 required the balcony to hold at least 60 pounds per square foot. That requirement has since been raised to 100 pounds. City spokesman Matthai Chakko said officials have not measured the balcony and how much weight it was built to bear. Chakko also said there is no city requirement to post a weight restriction for apartment balconies.

Grace Kang, a structural engineer and spokeswoman for Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center at Berkeley, raised the possibility the balcony was overloaded. She said it looked to her to be 4 by 6 feet, or 24 square feet. That would mean it should have been able to bear at least 1,440 pounds. Thirteen normal-size adults would weigh more than that.

"They were packed like sardines, and then they were moving," which can increase the strain, she said.

At a news conference in Berkeley Tuesday afternoon, officials released the name of the six victims: Ashley Donohoe, 22, of Ronhert Park, Oliva Burke, 21, Eoghan Culligan, 21, Niccolai Schuster, 21, Lorcan Miller, 21 and Eimear Walsh, 21, all of Ireland.

The shrine at the scene of the apartment balcony collapse continues to grow. Mourners have placed dozens of bouquets, an Irish flag, a map of Ireland and two giant wreaths outside the California apartment building.

On Tuesday afternoon, Ireland's Consul General Philip Grant and Mayor Tom Bates laid two wreaths: one on behalf of the nation of Ireland, and one on the behalf of the Irish community in the United States. A bagpipe played in the background.

The Irish students killed were in the U.S. on J-1 work visas, reports CBS affiliate KPIX 5. As many as 8,000 Irish students come to the United States on those J-1 visas. And more than a third of those students come to California, according to KPIX 5.

The Diocese of Oakland plans a service on behalf of the students injured and killed.

The service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland. Spokesman Mike Brown says dignitaries have been invited, but it's uncertain who will attend.