Idaho hot pool roof fall sends 7 to hospitals, cause unknown

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A roof collapsed on bathers at an Idaho hot spring, sending seven people to hospitals with a variety of injuries.

The injured ranged in age from 9 to 70. All were conscious and in stable condition when taken for further medical care after the collapse Saturday afternoon at Givens Hot Springs, the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

Witnesses said 15 to 20 people were in the pool when pieces of wood began falling in the water, KTVB-7 reported.

“I saw the first piece of wood come down from the ceiling. I heard it snap and then the whole thing caved in,” Lee Wilson said. “I got hit and knocked out and I went under the water. A firefighter saved me, and my nephew pulled me out. But it was scary.”

Wilson suffered a concussion but was released from the hospital Saturday, he said.

Nicole Caffrey said she took her 2-year-old daughter into a changing room and heard the collapse soon after.

“It literally felt like an earthquake just right behind my back,” Caffrey said.

What caused the roof collapse at the privately owned pool 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of Boise was unknown. There was no snow accumulation in the area, the sheriff’s statement said.

The hot spring was closed “due to a structural issue,” its website said Sunday.

A phone message left with the sheriff’s office seeking an update on the collapse wasn’t immediately returned Sunday.