FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. – The gangway that collapsed during the Fourth of July fireworks show in Fernandina Beach was relocated in 2018 after Hurricane Matthew severely damaged it, records show.
News4JAX obtained records from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that show the City of Fernandina Beach requested to relocate the gangway at the Fernandina Harbor Marina in November 2018.
Records show Applied Technology & Management, Inc. helped relocate the gangway, but it’s still unclear who constructed the gangway that collapsed.
Documents from a 2023 state inspection found the gangway to be in compliance.
According to the City of Fernandina Beach, the gangway at the Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina near the Bretts Waterway Café collapsed during the fireworks display, leaving at least a dozen people with minor injuries.
Fire Chief Jeremy Holmes said too many people were standing on the gangway when it collapsed. When News4JAX checked it out, there were no signs posted indicating any kind of capacity limit for the gangway.
“Suddenly, it just like collapsed in the middle. People were screaming. People were losing their shoes,” witness Lori Davidson said.
Holmes said on Sunday the department will be better prepared to handle those types of situations.
“We’ll go through the entire scenario and what transpired and then how we can better be equipped for emergencies in the area,” Holmes said. “It also opened our eyes to know a lot of people were saying, ‘Oh there was a shooter,’ things like that and it obviously was not those things but it scared enough people to be able to see what that reaction would look like.”
Witnesses on the gangway said they heard creaking right before they were suddenly in the water. The noise sent people in the area running for safety.
Holmes said about a dozen people were checked out on the scene, but there were no serious injuries and no one was taken to the hospital.