Code Allows Gap in Fridley Bleachers That Caught Girl's Leg

The for about 45 minutes last week is allowed under the state's building code, according to City of Fridley Building Official Ron Julkowski.

Julkowski met with Fridley Public Schools Facilities Director Duane Nealing two days after the July 12 incident. They determined that the 2.25-inch gap in the wooden poolside bleachers at Fridley Middle School were within the 4 inches allowed in Minnesota.

"Codes try to protect everybody," Julkowski said—but still, he added, "Things happen."

Several injuries to children, including a falling death, prompted a 1999 Minnesota bleacher-safety law requiring gaps in bleachers filled in, though not completely.

Fridley Middle School and other Fridley School District bleachers were have been retrofitted in compliance with the law, Nealing said.

'Just Skinny Enough'
Firefighters and school staff freed Hannah Stacy by spreading the gap with a prybar.

Her mother, Sara Stacy, said on July 21 that her daughter has scrapes and bruises from the incident but is doing very well.

"Only 2.25 inches!?" Sara Stacy said via Facebook. "She must have been just skinny enough & slippery enough to get stuck."