Six hospitalized, more injured after partial drywall cave-in at Broward casino

Incident occurred during fire suppression system installation

Seminole Classic Casino (Getty)
Seminole Classic Casino (Getty)

Parts of the drywall at the Seminole Classic Casino near Hollywood caved-in on Monday morning, sending six to the hospital and leaving more with minor injuries.

Maintenance crews had been installing a fire suppression system at the property when a compression tank blew, knocking down some of the drywall, according to a city of Hollywood Fire Rescue spokesperson. Crews were working in the attic and in a second-story room where the tank blew, sending parts of the drywall down to the first floor, the spokesperson said.

Fire rescue treated 20 people onsite for minor injuries and transported another six to Memorial Hospital, also with minor injuries. No fatalities were reported.

The building at 4150 North State Road 7 was evacuated.

The Seminole Classic Casino is different from the much larger Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, at 1 Seminole Way near Hollywood, is well-known for its 12-story guitar-shaped hotel with 469 guest rooms and suites.

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The Seminole Tribe owns both the Classic and the Hard Rock Hotel casinos, according to the tribe’s website. The tribe is on the scene and investigating, the Fire Rescue spokesperson said.

The incident comes amid increased anxiety and scrutiny over the structural integrity and safety of buildings in South Florida after the deadly Surfside condominium collapse.

The majority of the 12-story, 136-unit Champlain Towers South toppled in the early morning of June 24, killing 98 people. Both Broward County, where the casino drywall came off, and Miami-Dade County, which encompasses Surfside, mandate 40-year recertifications of their buildings, although counties and cities have pushed for more frequent inspections following the Champlain tragedy.

In the immediate aftermath of the Surfside collapse, several Miami-Dade residential buildings were evacuated after officials declared them unsafe. In August, officials evacuated a condo complex near Miami International Airport after columns were determined to be “structurally insufficient.”