5 injured when ceiling falls at Hotel Vermont

Five people were injured when part of the lobby ceiling collapsed in the Hotel Vermont on Cherry Street in Burlington on Thursday night.

The collapse occurred at about 6:50 p.m. in the northwest corner of the lobby for the 2-year-old high-end hotel.

A decorative facade made up of thick wooden boards and steel supports broke loose and struck members of a local French-enthusiast club having drinks and conversation below.

"It came unfastened from the ceiling and there were some injuries, nothing life threatening," Deputy Fire Chief David Roberts said.

"There is no structural issue with the hotel itself," he said.

Four of the injured were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center. The fifth person declined treatment.

"Everyone was conscious and alert," Roberts said.

One woman was led to the Burlington Fire Department ambulance holding what appeared to be an ice bag covered by a towel to her head. Hotel Vermont General Manager Hans van Wees spoke with her briefly.

Van Wees said the situation could have been significantly worse. A portion of the fallen ceiling struck a hostess stand, propping up the wooden boards somewhat above where people were gathering.

"The hostess stand saved the day," van Wees told the Burlington Free Press.

Nobody was trapped. All of the injured were able to move under their own power either to an ambulance or onto stretchers that took them to waiting emergency vehicles, Roberts said.

Cherry Street was sealed off, and hotel guests and staff were evacuated across the street as alarms continued to blare.

Numerous fire and rescue vehicles filled the street.

Hotel guests were allowed to return inside shortly after 7:30 p.m. The road reopened by 8 p.m.

Evan Gould, who was at the hotel for the French club meeting, said the collapse brushed his shoulder. He declined medical treatment.

"I was below the lattice," he said. He heard "a loud bang and it came crashing down kind of."

The fire department ordered four other areas under similar decorative, heavy ceilings closed off pending inspection.

Van Wees said the hotel's builder, Pizzagalli Construction Co., now known as PC Construction, and a structural engineer were due to inspect the hotel Thursday night.

The hotel opened amid much fanfare in May 2013.

Contact Mike Donoghue at 660-1845 or mdonoghue@freepressmedia. Contatct Adam Silverman at 660-1854 or asilverman@freepressmedia.com