America's North Shore Journal

They’ll laugh about this at the twenty year reunion. Yeah, right…

R News
by Rocco Vertuccio

For some Irondequoit High School students, they are prom memories they would rather erase from their minds after a light fixture came crashing down during the junior prom Sunday night.

It was supposed to be a night to remember; one that Reggie White would rather forget.

“I was looking forward to dancing a lot, having fun, enjoying the ladies,” said Reggie, a senior at Irondequoit High School.

Reggie was on the dance floor at the Harro East Ballroom Sunday night when a light fixture came crashing down during the Irondequoit junior prom. The lights barely missed Reggie.

“I didn’t know what to think; I was shocked, I was very shocked,” said Reggie.

Some of his friends were not so lucky. Thirteen students were hurt. The fixture fell on top of some of them, including Chris Waters’ friend. He suffered a concussion.

“It was just horrible; it was on top of people, it was horrible”, Chris exclaimed.

The light fixture for the DJ and speakers was on wheels on top of the stage used. Reggie said the lights fell after students climbed on the stage to dance. Reggie said that he did not see anyone pulling on the lights. Chris claims that he did withness a girl use the fixture to help her get on the stage.

“We can’t blame the girl for holding onto it. She shouldn’t have been doing that. Maybe the poles weren’t stable to begin with,” added Chris.

Rochester police tell R News that it’s unclear to them why the lights fell. They have ruled the incident an accident. The investigation is now in the hands of OSHA.

Mike Valente said the DJ was encouraging kids to get on stage. He questions why the lights were not fastened to the stage. After they crashed to the floor, he says the lights starting flickering. He decided to unplug them.

“It was just my instinct. I didn’t want anything further so I could pull it out and try to prevent a fire,” said Mike.

With everyone treated and released from the hospital and now doing ok, the students are upset about a memorable night that truly will be unforgettable.

“This is gonna be a night to remember, but I don’t want to remember it in that type of situation,” says Reggie.