The Preserve at Chocorua Wedding-Floor Collapse
An evidence-structured review of the Sap House floor collapse in Tamworth, including the casualty response, assembly-permit status, occupant-load distinction and unresolved structural cause.
Incident overview
What occurred
At approximately 16:33, as a wedding ceremony began inside the Sap House, part of the wooden floor buckled and collapsed into the basement.
Officials counted 144 guests in the building. Nearly 70 people fell or slid through an opening measuring approximately 20 feet by 20 feet, with an estimated vertical drop of eight feet. Some casualties were temporarily trapped beneath beams and agricultural equipment stored below.
Six adults were transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Additional guests were evaluated or treated at the scene, but no consolidated minor-injury total was published. No fatalities were reported.
Evidence position
What is established
Assembly permit: The Sap House did not hold the place-of-assembly permit required for a gathering of this size. The property’s separate Barn did hold such a permit.
Occupancy status: Officials believed 144 guests were likely excessive, but no permit-specific maximum had been issued for the Sap House. Its allowable fire-code occupant load remained under calculation.
Structural cause: No completed engineering report established whether the failure resulted from loading, deterioration, inadequate structural members, alterations, foundations, change of use or combined factors.
Review findings →Key figures
Reported scale and response
Source-backed chronology
Incident and response sequence
Incident characteristics
Key physical and medical details
Operational findings
Occupancy, structure and emergency response
The source record identifies several issues requiring separate treatment rather than a single premature causal conclusion.
Conflicting information
Accounts requiring qualification
Five material source differences or sequential updates were identified.
The joint Fire Marshal and Tamworth Fire/Rescue information gave a precise count of 144 guests.
Other accounts used approximately 140, 145 or 150 people.
The official figure of 144 is the strongest and most precise evidence position.
The official release stated that nearly 70 people fell or slid into the basement.
Other reports used “about 70” or “at least 70.”
The descriptions appear to be rounded versions of the same preliminary count; no individual register was published.
Early Fire Marshal reporting said the building was believed to be over capacity.
Later reporting established that the Sap House had no place-of-assembly permit and that its allowable occupant load was still being calculated.
It is supported that 144 guests were inside and that officials considered the number likely excessive. No permit-specific legal maximum had been issued.
The official release and WMUR said the floor failed as the wedding ceremony began.
The Concord Monitor described the activity as a wedding reception.
The official description of the beginning of the ceremony is better supported.
Four of the six transported casualties were discharged on the night of the incident.
Two remained hospitalised on 23 March.
These are sequential updates rather than contradictory accounts. No later discharge confirmation was located.
Not verified
Unresolved evidence
The following matters had not been established through a completed public engineering, medical, enforcement or judicial record.
Source material
References
The source catalogue contains nine news reports, one magazine article, three website records and three open-source social posts. No incident-specific academic paper was located.
Document URLs
Source links
The links below reproduce the source addresses embedded in the supplied Word report.
