Fire Marshal: Tamworth wedding venue built prior to current building code

The building where a floor collapsed at a Tamworth wedding venue Saturday evening predates New Hampshire’s building code, the State Fire Marshal’s Office said.

More than 100 guests were on the floor at The Preserve at Chocorua, at 88 Philbrick Neighborhood Road, when it gave way during a wedding reception, dropping them eight feet into the basement below. Six people were taken to the hospital and others who were injured were treated at the scene.

The three-story building at the site was built in 1800, according to property records. The wedding took place at a separate sap house on the 26-acre property.

Multiple people were trapped under beams and farming equipment.

As of Monday, two people remained hospitalized.

Investigators have been conducting follow-up interviews and collecting records related to the property, including past inspections, permits, and applicable building and fire codes. The property owner has been cooperative, officials said.

The Fire Marshal’s Office noted that occupant load for egress is calculated differently from a floor’s structural load-bearing capacity, and that the occupancy load for the space, as required by the State Fire Code, remains under review.

Authorities said 144 guests were inside the venue’s sap house building when the floor gave way, opening a roughly 20-by-20-foot hole into the basement and sending about 70 people falling through.

When first responders arrived, they found that venue staff and wedding guests had already begun providing first aid. They used ladders to help those who had fallen through the floor.

The investigation remains ongoing.

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