Some might call it luck that no one was injured when a roof collapsed during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. After watching a viral video of the incident, a roofing expert referred to it as a miracle.

The St. Patrick’s Day festivities kicked off on March 14 in Oakland, Pa., near the University of Pittsburgh. Hundreds of people wore green apparel and lined the streets.

As reported by CBS-affiliated KDKA, merriment turned to fright when a porch roof collapsed while holding more than a dozen people on it. Reports indicate 16 people were injured as a result.

"No cracks were heard. Like, I didn't feel it, like, cave in or anything. It just, like, fell," Michael Estocin, who was on the roof, told KDKA.

A video of the incident captured by a party-goer shows more than 20 people sitting or standing on the roof when the structure breaks apart from the home, taking the entire porch and the people on it to the ground.

After viewing the video, Chad Sipes, the owner of Sipes and Son General Contractors, was not surprised the roof collapsed but expressed disbelief.

"It's actually a miracle that nobody was killed," Sipes told KDKA.

According to Sipes, the porch roof on the home is common in neighborhoods throughout Pittsburgh. He rightly points out it’s built to hold snow and rain but not a group of 20 to 30 people. If anyone should be on it, he says, it should be emergency workers or a couple of crewmembers for repair work.

KDKA reports the home is from 1920, but even if it were built using current building code standards, a porch roof could not support that many people.

Structural Integrity

Common sense tells most people not to party on top of a residential roof (or “rage” on it, as the KDKA anchor says). However, customers with easy access to their roofs might be tempted to hop onto it, much like the Oakland partiers, so roofing contractors should emphasize that structures, especially older ones, aren’t venues and must be maintained.

Contractors can offer regular inspections and maintenance plans, which could prevent future problems and generate business —  and trust — with existing customers. 

Even a visual inspection is worthwhile — after all, Sipes knew that disaster was imminent when he saw the roof.

Contractors can educate their clients about their roof’s capabilities. Many commercial roofs are designed to hold plenty of people, but even those have limits. When talking with customers, it’s important to distinguish between a roof’s live load and snow load.

Live loads typically include the weight a roof is expected to bear when under construction or reroofing, including crew members, tools and materials. Even so, these are for short periods and should be evenly distributed to prevent roof overload.

5 Takeaways

• Structural Limits Matter: Residential porch roofs, especially those on older homes, are not designed to support large groups of people. Overloading can lead to catastrophic failure.
• Routine Inspections Are Crucial: Regular inspections and maintenance can help contractors identify weaknesses in aging structures and prevent accidents.
• Educate Homeowners: Contractors should inform clients about their roof's weight-bearing capabilities, emphasizing the difference between live loads (temporary) and snow loads (seasonal).
• Visual Inspections Can Be Telling: A quick visual assessment can reveal signs of structural stress, as demonstrated by the roofing expert who foresaw the Oakland collapse risk.
• Use Incidents as Teaching Tools: Sharing videos like this can illustrate the dangers of misusing roofs, reinforcing the need for caution and proper maintenance.

As the name suggests, snow loads are weight limits based on predictable snowfall amounts for a particular region. Crews should know these weight limits to prevent accidents while on the job.

If all else fails, contractors can pull up this video to warn anyone considering hosting their next rager on their roof.