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Tag: Building collapses

  • Father of NFL cornerback Caleb Farley killed in explosion at North Carolina home

    Father of NFL cornerback Caleb Farley killed in explosion at North Carolina home

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    MOORESVILLE, N.C. — The father of Tennessee Titans cornerback Caleb Farley died overnight in an explosion that destroyed the NFL player’s North Carolina home and left another person injured, authorities said.

    Robert M. Farley, 61, was found dead in the debris of the Lake Norman, North Carolina, house Tuesday morning, said Kent Greene, director of Iredell County Fire Services and Emergency Management.

    First responders arrived at the house a few minutes after midnight Tuesday and found Christian Rogers, 25, exiting the collapsed structure, Greene said. Rogers, a friend of the family, was transported to Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte with a concussion. He is “awake and alert,” Greene said, but has not yet been discharged from the hospital.

    Greene said gas must have accumulated over a long period of time and likely found its way to an ignition source, which caused the explosion. The blast, which local authorities have ruled accidental, originated in a bedroom and did not damage any surrounding homes.

    The house is on a large plot of land about 28 miles (45 kilometers) north of Charlotte. County property records list the tax value of the home as nearly $2 million.

    In the front yard Tuesday, insulation hung from the trees, and a king-size mattress and broken coffee mug saying “Virginia Tech dad” lie on the lawn. Wood debris and window frames were blown at least 50 yards (45 meters) from the blast.

    “There could not be anyone in it left alive — that was my first thought,” Greene said. “And when I found out someone did walk out of it, I was amazed. This was a 6,300-square-foot home, and there’s nothing left but maybe a part of the garage.”

    Property records list Caleb Farley as the homeowner. The Titans player was not there at the time of the reported explosion, Greene said. His teammates said earlier Tuesday that he was one of the last players to leave the locker room Monday night.

    Titans coach Mike Vrabel called the situation “shocking” and said that the team will do everything possible to support Farley. His teammates confirmed that Farley, who was born and raised in nearby Maiden, North Carolina, had traveled home to the Tar Heel state Tuesday morning.

    Farley, the No. 22 overall pick in the 2021 draft, was placed on injured reserve last November with a back issue. He has played 12 games in his first two seasons and is currently listed as physically unable to perform as the Titans wrap up training camp this week.

    In college, the 6-foot-2, 197-pound cornerback was the first high-profile player to opt out of the 2020 season because of the coronavirus pandemic. He lost his mother to cancer in 2018 and was unwilling to put another loved one at risk while playing at Virginia Tech.

    Vrabel told the Titans about Caleb Farley’s loss at the end of Tuesday’s scrimmage, and then the players took a knee in an apparent prayer. He said what’s important is that they do everything to support Farley and his family.

    “That’s the most important thing is to focus on him and not any of the … everything else is pretty trivial,” Vrabel said after practice at the team’s headquarters in Nashville.

    Titans safety Kevin Byard lost his own mother in June 2022. He said he told Farley before he returned to North Carolina to lean hard into his faith.

    “I know he lost his mother at a young age as well, so he’s dealt with a lot of adversity as well,” Byard said. “So just very tragic. And, you know, as a team and as a brother, all we can do and all I can do is to try to be there for him.”

    The local fire marshal’s office is continuing to investigate the cause of the collapse along with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Dominion Energy and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

    Greene said he could not confirm whether the gas company or the homeowner would be liable for the damages. The gas meter used to measure the volume of fuel gases flowing into nearby homes has been sequestered and does not pose any present danger to others in the community, Greene said.

    Dominion Energy spokesperson Bonita Billingsley Harris wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the power company was among the first on the scene when the explosion was reported. “We continue working in coordination with emergency personnel on this ongoing investigation. We are deeply saddened at the tragic loss of life.”

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    AP Pro Football Writer Teresa M. Walker reported from Nashville, Tenn.

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  • A fiery explosion in Dominican Republic kills 3 and injures dozens of others

    A fiery explosion in Dominican Republic kills 3 and injures dozens of others

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    SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A powerful explosion rocked a bustling market area in a town near the capital of the Dominican Republic on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 30 others, authorities said.

    The explosion occurred at a bakery in the town of San Cristobal, which lies just west of Santo Domingo. Officials said in a statement that the fire then spread to a hardware store located next door and a nearby furniture store. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the explosion.

    Charred cars and debris from several collapsed buildings lined the streets as thick black smoke rose from the town’s center and prompted several businesses to evacuate while crowds gathered to film the incident.

    The explosion occurred in an area known as “Old Marketplace,” where throngs of people shop daily for goods ranging from fruits to clothes. The victims were a four-month-old baby who died from a head injury and two adults whose bodies were 90% burned, according to a statement from Dr. Mario Lama, director of the country’s National Health Service. Several people were transferred to a hospital in the capital of Santo Domingo, including seven patients who had burns on up to 40% of their bodies, he said.

    Pura Casilla, the governor of San Cristobal province, told Noticias SIN that the explosion occurred in a commercial area and greatly affected businesses near the city center.

    Firefighters were still battling the blaze early Monday evening as authorities ordered people to clear the area, warning that other buildings could collapse.

    Government officials arrived on scene, including legislator Franklin Rodríguez, who told local media he was worried about people’s health and safety given the heavy smoke still streaming from several buildings.

    “These buildings are very weak,” he said.

    He added that toll roads leading to San Cristobal were suspended to allow a greater number of ambulances into the area, with dozens of people rushing to nearby hospitals and clinics to search for loved ones. Some cried outside the main hospital as others hugged them for comfort.

    Eddy Montás, a local representative, told Noticias SIN that he saw a couple of bodies in the area, in addition to the three deaths that authorities reported.

    “We are saddened by what happened today,” he said.

    San Cristobal, the birthplace of dictator Rafael Trujillo, was the site of another explosion nearly 23 years ago. An arms depot exploded in October 2000, killing at least two people and injured more than two dozen others, forcing authorities to evacuate thousands.

    ___

    Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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  • Iowa agency rules finds deaths of 3 men in Iowa building collapse were accidental

    Iowa agency rules finds deaths of 3 men in Iowa building collapse were accidental

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    Iowa’s health agency has determined that the deaths of three men crushed in the collapse of a downtown Davenport building were accidental

    FILE – An apartment building that partially collapsed two days earlier is seen, Tuesday, May 30, 2023, in Davenport, Iowa. Iowa’s health agency said Monday, July 31, 2023, that three men killed in the collapse more than two months ago died of blunt-force injuries and asphyxiation. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)

    The Associated Press

    DAVENPORT, Iowa — Iowa’s health agency has determined that the deaths of three men crushed in the collapse of a downtown Davenport building were accidental.

    The finding released Monday by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services declared the deaths of 42-year-old Branden Colvin Sr., 51-year-old Ryan Hitchcock and 60-year-old Daniel Prien as accidental. All had suffered multiple crush injuries and “mechanical asphyxiation,” a term used to indicate that an object or body position prevented a person from breathing.

    The partial collapse of the century-old, six-story brick building on May 28 near Davenport’s riverside also injured several people and displaced dozens of people. An investigation is being conducted to determine the cause of the deadly collapse.

    Questions remain about why residents were allowed to stay in the building, despite many warnings that the building was unstable. Those warnings were issued by structural engineers, masons, city inspectors and tenants over several months, according to city documents.

    Several lawsuits have been filed accusing the city and building owner Andrew Wold, among others, of neglecting residents’ safety.

    Wold pleaded guilty in June to a civil infraction asserting that he didn’t maintain safe conditions at the building, for which he faced $395 in fines and court fees.

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  • Death toll from an explosion and collapse of a Paris building in June climbs to 3

    Death toll from an explosion and collapse of a Paris building in June climbs to 3

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    Paris prosecutors say a third person has died as the result of an explosion a month ago that sent a historic building crumbling down and ignited a huge fire in the high-end Left Bank neighborhood

    PARIS — A woman in her 70s who worked at a design school has died as the result of an explosion in central Paris a month ago that sent a historic building crumbling down and ignited a huge fire in the Left Bank neighborhood, bringing the death toll to three, officials said Friday.

    One body was found in the rubble six days after the June 21 blast, and a 59-year-old insurance agency worker later died in the hospital. A third critically injured person died on Thursday, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

    The third victim was a woman born in 1946, the prosecutor’s office said. She had worked at the Paris American Academy, a school in the collapsed building that specializes in design and arts, according to Florence Berthout, mayor of the city’s 5th district.

    The blast, not far from the Luxembourg Gardens, left six people critically injured and more than 50 with lighter injuries or in psychological shock, according to the Paris prosecutor.

    A manslaughter investigation is underway, with a gas leak among the possible causes being examined. Prosecutors are looking into whether the explosion was caused by intentional violation of safety rules.

    The French capital’s historic infrastructure has seen occasional gas explosions in the past.

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  • Man fleeing Ohio police with an abducted infant crashes into a home, killing the child

    Man fleeing Ohio police with an abducted infant crashes into a home, killing the child

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    Authorities in Ohio say a man abducted a 7-month-old child and crashed his car into a house while fleeing from police, killing the infant and critically injuring himself

    TIFFIN, Ohio — A man who abducted a 7-month-old child in Ohio crashed his car into a house while trying to flee from police, killing the infant and critically injuring himself.

    The crash in Tiffin occurred shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.

    The Wood County Sheriff’s Office had sent out an alert regarding the man — whose name was not released — after he had taken the child earlier in the day in North Baltimore, Ohio, while reportedly armed with a gun. He soon contacted the child’s mother and told her he was feeling homicidal and suicidal and claimed he had killed the child.

    Authorities did not say if the man was related to the child or its mother, and they did not disclose the child’s name or details about how the abduction occurred.

    Tiffin Police Chief David Pauly said an off-duty city officer spotted the vehicle and alerted department officials. The officer then began following the vehicle and provided colleagues with information about its location.

    Officers in police cruisers soon attempted to stop the vehicle, but authorities said the driver sped up before driving off the road and through the front yard of a home. He then crashed into another residence, knocking it off its foundation.

    Law enforcement officers broke out the car’s back window to get the infant, who was bleeding from the head and had “labored breathing,” The child and the man were both taken to a hospital, where the infant died a short time later.

    The man was later flown by helicopter to a hospital in Toledo, where authorities said he was in critical condition.

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  • Rescuers found body in rubble of Paris building that collapsed in explosion

    Rescuers found body in rubble of Paris building that collapsed in explosion

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    The Paris prosecutor’s office says French emergency workers found a body in the rubble of a building that collapsed in an explosion last week

    In this photo provided by the Paris Fire brigade on Thursday June 22, 2023, firefighters work at the site of an explosion in Paris, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. French rescue workers searched Thursday for a person feared missing after a powerful blast brought down a building on Paris’ Left Bank, injuring more than 30 people, four of them critically. (E Thepault/BSPP via AP)

    The Associated Press

    PARIS — French emergency workers found a body Tuesday in the rubble of a Paris building whose facade collapsed in an explosion last week and are working to remove the remains and identify the person, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

    The discovery marks the first fatality in the blast, which left six people critically injured and more than 50 people with lighter injuries or psychological shock, according to the Paris prosecutor.

    Authorities had been digging through debris for days to try to locate a person reported missing since the explosion June 21. The search was complicated by the risk that a neighboring building could also collapse.

    The identity of the person whose body was found Tuesday was not yet clear, according to the prosecutor’s office.

    After the discovery, the preliminary investigation opened into the case was expanded to include potential manslaughter charges, the prosecutor’s office said. Prosecutors are looking into whether the explosion was caused by intentional violation of safety rules. A possible gas leak was one of the theories under investigation.

    The French capital’s historic — and sometimes ageing — infrastructure has seen occasional gas explosions in the past. Last week’s explosion near the historic Val de Grace military hospital in the city’s 5th district crumpled the facade of a building that held a private academy of design and arts.

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  • At least 15 injured as Baltimore bus crashes into 2 cars, building

    At least 15 injured as Baltimore bus crashes into 2 cars, building

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    Authorities in Baltimore say at least 15 people were injured when a mass transit bus crashed with two cars before hitting a building

    First responders work the scene of a multi-vehicle crash in Baltimore on Saturday, June 17, 2023. Police say several people were injured when a mass transit bus crashed with two cars before hitting a building. (Kim Hairston/The Baltimore Sun via AP)

    The Associated Press

    BALTIMORE — At least 15 people were injured Saturday when a mass transit bus crashed with two cars before hitting a building in Baltimore, authorities said.

    Baltimore police said officers in the city’s central district responded to a Maryland Transit Administration bus crash at about 10:20 a.m.

    A preliminary investigation showed that the bus crashed with a Lexus and a Nissan before coming to rest in a building. The Baltimore Sun reported that it was an apartment building.

    Police said in a news release that 15 people were injured, with two people suffering possible life-threatening injuries. Baltimore City Fire Department spokesman Kevin Cartwright told the newspaper that 17 people were injured, with none of the injuries being life-threatening.

    Witnesses said the Lexus was speeding and ran a stop light when it struck the bus.

    “There were bystander, spectator reports that there were vehicles speeding through this and the MTA bus, in an effort to avoid being a part of that, collided into this building,” Cartwright said.

    The cause of the crash was under investigation.

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  • Heavy rains in northwest Pakistan leave 25 dead, 145 injured

    Heavy rains in northwest Pakistan leave 25 dead, 145 injured

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    Authorities say heavy rains swept through Pakistan’s northwest, causing several houses to collapse and leaving at least 25 people dead and 145 injured

    This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. (AP Photo)

    The Associated Press

    PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Heavy rains swept through Pakistan’s northwest on Saturday, causing several houses to collapse and leaving at least 25 people dead and 145 injured, authorities said.

    Rains and hail hit the Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, senior rescue officer Khateer Ahmed said, uprooting trees and knocking down electrical transmission towers.

    Officials were working to provide emergency relief to the injured, Ahmed said.

    Last year, monsoon rains and flooding devastated Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people, affecting around 33 million people and displacing nearly 8 million.

    To mitigate the effects of natural disasters, the government in its national budget draft presented Friday allocated $1.3 billion for climate resilience.

    Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday expressed grief over the loss of life loss from the storm and directed authorities to pick up the pace of the relief operation.

    Meanwhile, Sharif ordered officials to put in place emergency measures in advance of the approaching Cyclone Biparjoy in the Arabia Sea. The “severe and intense” cyclone with wind speeds of 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour) was on a course toward the country’s south, Pakistan’s disaster management agency said.

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  • 5 killed in explosion at rocket and explosives factory in Turkey

    5 killed in explosion at rocket and explosives factory in Turkey

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    An official says an explosion at a rocket and explosives plant in Turkey caused a building to collapse, killing all five workers inside

    Relatives of workers gather outside a compound of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, June 10, 2023. An explosion at a rocket and explosives plant caused a building to collapse on Saturday, killing all five workers inside, an official said. (Yavuz Ozden/DIA Images via AP)

    The Associated Press

    ANKARA, Turkey — An explosion at a rocket and explosives plant in Turkey caused a building to collapse on Saturday, killing all five workers inside, an official said.

    The explosion occurred at around 8:45 a.m. at the compound of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters.

    Sahin said the explosion was likely to have been caused by a chemical reaction during the production of dynamite. Prosecutors have launched a formal investigation, he said.

    Gray smoke was seen rising from the compound as ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the area, private NTV television reported.

    Shop and house windows in surrounding areas were shattered by the force of the blast, the report said.

    Family members rushed to the compound for news of their loved ones, the station said.

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  • 5 killed in explosion at rocket and explosives factory in Turkey

    5 killed in explosion at rocket and explosives factory in Turkey

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    An official says an explosion at a rocket and explosives plant in Turkey caused a building to collapse, killing all five workers inside

    Relatives of workers gather outside a compound of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation on the outskirts of Ankara, Turkey, Saturday, June 10, 2023. An explosion at a rocket and explosives plant caused a building to collapse on Saturday, killing all five workers inside, an official said. (Yavuz Ozden/DIA Images via AP)

    The Associated Press

    ANKARA, Turkey — An explosion at a rocket and explosives plant in Turkey caused a building to collapse on Saturday, killing all five workers inside, an official said.

    The explosion occurred at around 8:45 a.m. at the compound of the state-owned Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation, on the outskirts of the capital, Ankara, Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters.

    Sahin said the explosion was likely to have been caused by a chemical reaction during the production of dynamite. Prosecutors have launched a formal investigation, he said.

    Gray smoke was seen rising from the compound as ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the area, private NTV television reported.

    Shop and house windows in surrounding areas were shattered by the force of the blast, the report said.

    Family members rushed to the compound for news of their loved ones, the station said.

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  • Cracked floors, bowed walls: Many warnings but no action at Iowa building before deadly collapse

    Cracked floors, bowed walls: Many warnings but no action at Iowa building before deadly collapse

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — So many people knew something wasn’t right at the 116-year-old Davenport apartment building.

    The structural engineer who documented the shaky wall. The head of a masonry company who wouldn’t let his workers onto the site. The city inspector who threatened to close some units. A downtown official who called 911 and asked firefighters to take a look. And tenants who told of cracks in their floors and walls.

    But no one ordered residents out, and it was only when a section of the six-story brick, steel and concrete building tumbled to the ground on the afternoon of May 28 that everyone seemed to connect the dots. Three men were dead, about 50 tenants were left homeless without their possessions and the city was faced with one of its taller buildings at risk of crumbling in the heart of its downtown.

    Asked days after the collapse why residents hadn’t been warned, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said, “I don’t know that anyone can anticipate a building collapsing.”

    Tenants have begun filing lawsuits over the collapse, and they argue no one should be surprised by what happened.

    “The owner of this building was aware, the city of Davenport was aware, the engineering companies and construction people were aware. This was a completely preventable tragedy,” said lawyer Andrew M. Stroth, who is part of a team who filed one of the first lawsuits on behalf of tenants Lexus Berry and Peach Berry, whose leg was amputated when she was trapped in rubble.

    The lawsuit says that “perhaps worst of all is that they did nothing to warn the tenants at The Davenport that the intended comfort of their own homes was, in reality, hanging by a proverbial thread.”

    A request for an interview with Matson went unanswered.

    Some tenants certainly had concerns.

    Shauna Dixon recalled issues around the wall of her apartment, which was on the side of the building that ultimately collapsed. The wall was bowing, the window frame was pulling away from the wall and the floor was uneven.

    She messaged her leasing agent, questioning if the wall was “safe as far as structure? Just asking because the floor and wall is really soft. I don’t want to fall out the side of the building one day,” a remark followed by the rolling on the floor laughing emoji.

    Messages from the leasing agent and management office said maintenance would be sent to address the issues. Dixon said there was no progress over weeks.

    Dixon was told she could pull up her carpet and, when she did, she found “very big cracks in the cement” and a crumbling foundation, which concerned her the most. “I had brought that to their attention – to the management office – and nothing came from it. They more or less just didn’t care,” Dixon said in an interview.

    Dixon asked to break her lease or be transferred to another apartment building. Management moved her to a building across the street, and within a couple of weeks she would step outside and be face-to-face with the rubble of her former apartment, where some of her belongings remained.

    “It was gut-wrenching,” she said. “My jaw dropped, and I just – I cried instantly. My body was literally shaking.”

    Trent Fuessel, 21, and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Aurea Monet, moved out of apartment 311 — the apartment above Dixon’s — on May 20 because they were concerned for their safety. They had detailed the reasons why in an email to Village Property Management, saying they would be breaking their lease and leaving.

    The response on May 4 was “there are no structural deficiencies within the building,” a screenshot of the email shows. “We have had the building approved by a structural engineer.”

    “Personally I feel blessed that we were able to get out of there, and I also feel really, really angry that it wasn’t taken seriously,” Fuessel said. “It almost just seemed like a disregard for human life for a petty $750 a month.”

    Village Property Management did not return requests for comment.

    City officials had known about crumbling bricks and bulging walls at The Davenport since at least 2021 and threatened to close some units unless owner Andrew Wold made repairs, but documents show the owner initially appeared to take no action.

    In February 2023, utility MidAmerican Energy also told the city about deteriorating brick on the building’s west wall and said its workers would stay away from the site until dangerous conditions were fixed.

    Soon after, Wold hired Select Structural Engineering to make an emergency inspection and recommend needed work. In a report dated Feb. 8, Engineer David Valliere noted an area of brick “cracked and crumbling” that needed repairs but determined it was not an “imminent threat to the building or its residents.”

    In a report later in February, Valliere described “a large void space” where brick had collapsed within the wall, putting pressure on the façade. “This will soon cause a large panel of façade to also collapse, creating a safety problem and potentially destabilizing the upper areas of brick façade,” the report states.

    And in a report dated May 24, four days before the collapse, Valliere referred to several problems, including large patches of bricks that “appear ready to fall imminently, which may create a safety hazard to cars or passersby.” The engineer recommended techniques to stabilize the building with a steel column and other supports, but the report’s tone wasn’t overly alarming.

    The company on Thursday said it had no comment. Robert Lampe, executive director of Iowa’s engineering licensing board, also declined to comment about the company or the engineer’s involvement, pointing to the state’s regulation that all complaint or investigative files related to licensee discipline are privileged and confidential.

    In the days before the collapse, no one seemed more concerned than Ryan Shaffer, a masonry company co-owner who said the building owner asked him for a quote on the building.

    Shaffer said Wold rejected the quote as too costly, in part because Shaffer had estimated the need to spend about $50,000 on shoring and supporting the building. Without those protections, Shaffer told the Quad-City Times, he wouldn’t let his workers on the site.

    Shaffer was left shaken by what he saw and said that on Friday, only two days before the collapse, he told workers at the building, “Get away. You’re going to die.”

    Shaffer didn’t return a message left by The Associated Press.

    That comment about the potentially dangerous structure filtered up the next day to Tony Behncke, operations director for the Downtown Davenport Partnership, part of the Chamber of Commerce focused on the downtown’s appearance. Behncke received a call Saturday, the day before the collapse, from a worker cleaning up trash in an alley beside the building who said Shaffer had warned him about the danger.

    Behncke called 911 and passed along the concern to a dispatcher, prompting a visit by firefighters that lasted only minutes and didn’t result in any action. City officials didn’t respond to messages seeking details about the firefighters’ trip to the building.

    “It’s very strange and sad that it happened at all,” Behncke told the AP. “It’s a very sad situation and I feel horrible about it.”

    Days after the collapse, Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services, confirmed the city’s chief building official, Trishna Pradhan, resigned. Oswald didn’t accuse Pradhan of any culpability in the collapse but said her decision followed an administrative error that wrongly categorized an inspection of the building.

    Oswald said Pradhan resigned because of the “magnitude of the situation and the error that was made.”

    Pradhan didn’t respond to calls and text messages to a listed number.

    Reporters have repeatedly asked city officials why they didn’t demand that tenants leave The Davenport or at least warn them of concerns. They have expressed their sorrow for victims and promised to examine their inspection process, but they also have repeated that a certified engineer vouched that the building was safe, so the city had no reason to think it wasn’t.

    “That’s their professional career to make those decisions,” Oswald said. “So, an engineer’s report, stamped by that engineer is a qualified report. They have state licensing. That’s their job.”

    Less than 48 hours after the partial collapse, the city fined Wold $300 for failing to maintain his building in a sound, sanitary or safe condition. Wold declined to appear in court Friday to enter a plea and the judge denied lawyers appearing on his behalf, according to court documents. He will not appear at a rescheduled hearing either, his lawyers say in a court document, and will accept a judgement against him entered by default.

    ___

    Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas.

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  • Davenport, Iowa, officials: 3 bodies recovered at apartment collapse site; no others thought missing

    Davenport, Iowa, officials: 3 bodies recovered at apartment collapse site; no others thought missing

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — The bodies of three men have been removed from the site of a collapsed six-story apartment building, the police chief in Davenport, Iowa, announced Monday.

    “We don’t have any other information at this time that there are any additional people missing,” Chief Jeff Bladel said.

    Branden Colvin Sr.’s body was recovered Saturday. The body of Ryan Hitchcock was recovered Sunday and Daniel Prien early Monday. The discoveries came after authorities announced that the search for survivors had been completed, with attention turning to shoring up the remaining structure so recovery efforts could begin.

    City officials had said earlier that Colvin, 42; Hitchcock, 51; and Prien, 60; had “high probability of being home at the time of the collapse.” Searching for them has proven to be extremely dangerous. The remains of the six-story apartment building were constantly in motion in the first 24 to 36 hours after it collapsed on May 28, putting rescuers at great risk.

    “We are doing the best we can to balance the building conditions and the safety of our responders,” Fire Chief Mike Carlsten told reporters. He said conditions have forced a response that may take “days and weeks” instead of what ideally would have been minutes or hours.

    Mayor Mike Matson has said the debris pile “could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted.”

    Unresolved questions include why neither the owner nor city officials warned residents about potential danger. A structural engineer’s report issued days before the collapse indicated a wall of the century-old building was at imminent risk of crumbling.

    Documents released by the city show that city officials and the building’s owner had been warned for months that parts of the building were unstable.

    Tenants also complained to the city in recent years about a host of problems they say were ignored by property managers, including no heat or hot water for weeks or even months at a time, as well as mold and water leakage from ceilings and toilets. While city officials tried to address some complaints and gave vacate orders to individual apartments, a broader evacuation was never ordered, records show.

    Current and former residents told The Associated Press about interior cracks on the wall that ultimately collapsed that were reported to building management. One woman whose apartment ended up in a huge pile of rubble had to have her leg amputated in order to be rescued.

    Andrew Wold, the building’s owner, released a statement dated May 30 saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants.” He has made no statement since then, and efforts to reach him, his company and a man believed to be his attorney have been unsuccessful.

    County records show Davenport Hotel L.L.C. acquired the building in a 2021 deal worth $4.2 million.

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  • Missing man’s body recovered at Iowa apartment collapse site; two others still missing

    Missing man’s body recovered at Iowa apartment collapse site; two others still missing

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    DAVENPORT, Iowa — The body of one of three men who had been missing after the partial collapse of an apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, has been found, a city official confirmed Sunday.

    Branden Colvin Sr.’s body was recovered Saturday, city spokeswoman Sarah Ott said. Two other men — 51-year-old Ryan Hitchcock and 60-year-old Daniel Prien — are still unaccounted for. Colvin, 42, is the first person confirmed to have died in the collapse.

    No other details were immediately released.

    The Quad-City Times reported that Colvin’s son, Branden Colvin Jr., graduated from high school Saturday. He and other family members had been at the collapse site almost constantly, hoping for a miracle.

    The discovery of Colvin’s body came a day after authorities announced that the search for survivors had been completed, with attention turning to shoring up the structure so recovery efforts could begin.

    The remains of the six-story apartment building were constantly in motion in the first 24 to 36 hours after it collapsed on May 28, which officials said posed a risk to rescuers who were trying to search for survivors.

    City officials had said earlier that Colvin, Hitchcock and Prien had “high probability of being home at the time of the collapse.”

    Authorities have said that searching the building was extremely dangerous — and that it was constantly shifting and at risk of further collapse, putting rescuers at great risk. An Iowa task force completed a search for survivors on Thursday and began focusing on shoring up the structure for recovery efforts.

    “We are doing the best we can to balance the building conditions and the safety of our responders,” Fire Chief Mike Carlsten told reporters during a briefing after the collapse. He said conditions have forced a response that may take “days and weeks” instead of what ideally would have been minutes or hours.

    Mayor Mike Matson has said the debris pile “could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted.”

    Work to bring down the building was moving forward amid questions about why neither the owner nor city officials warned residents about potential danger even after a structural engineer’s report issued just days before the collapse indicated a wall of the century-old building was at imminent risk of crumbling.

    Documents released by the city show that city officials and the building’s owner were warned for months that parts of the building were unstable.

    Tenants also complained to the city in recent years about a host of problems they say were ignored by property managers, including no heat or hot water for weeks or even months at a time, as well as mold and water leakage from ceilings and toilets. While city officials tried to address some complaints and gave vacate orders to individual apartments, a broader evacuation was never ordered, records show.

    Current and former residents told The Associated Press about interior cracks on the wall that ultimately collapsed that were reported to building management.

    Andrew Wold, the building’s owner, released a statement dated May 30 saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants.” He has made no statement since then, and efforts to reach him, his company and a man believed to be his attorney have been unsuccessful.

    County records show Davenport Hotel L.L.C. acquired the building in a 2021 deal worth $4.2 million.

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  • Week after Iowa building collapse, Minnesota condo evacuated over stability concerns

    Week after Iowa building collapse, Minnesota condo evacuated over stability concerns

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    More than 140 people were evacuated from a condominium in Minnesota amid concerns that the building was unstable

    ROCHESTER, Minn. — Less than a week after an apartment building partially collapsed in Iowa, more than 140 people were evacuated from a condominium in Minnesota after a structural engineer expressed concerns about its stability.

    Officials in Rochester, Minnesota, ordered residents of the 15-story, 94-unit Rochester Towers Condominium to evacuate Friday afternoon, police said.

    Residents were advised to find temporary housing elsewhere while short-term shoring work is done to the building structure, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.

    They will not be allowed back into the building until Monday at the earliest, city spokeswoman Jenna Bowman said.

    In Davenport on Saturday, workers were removing pieces of the collapsed apartment building to control falling hazards and support recovery efforts, the city said on its website.

    The six-story Davenport apartment building partially collapsed on May 28. Rescue crews pulled seven people from the building initially and escorted 12 others out. They later rescued two more people.

    Three men remain missing, and officials said there was a “high probability” they were at home when the building partially collapsed and that their apartments were in the collapse zone.

    The search for survivors ended on Thursday and work was begun to shore up the building for the recovery efforts.

    The work to eventually bring down the building came amid questions about why residents weren’t warned about the potential danger even after a structural engineer’s report issued just days before the collapse indicated a wall of the century-old building was at imminent risk of crumbling.

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  • Rescuers at site of Iowa building collapse complete search for survivors, move on to recovery

    Rescuers at site of Iowa building collapse complete search for survivors, move on to recovery

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa task force has completed its search for survivors at the site of a partially collapsed Davenport apartment building without finding three missing people who are feared dead, authorities said Friday. The focus has shifted to shoring up the structure so recovery efforts can begin.

    The remains of the six-story apartment building were constantly in motion in the first 24 to 36 hours after it collapsed on Sunday, which officials said posed a risk to rescuers who were trying to search for survivors.

    “We do what the building tells us to do,” Rick Halleran, the task force’s Cedar Rapids division chief, said of the delay in searching the building.

    City officials earlier this week said that Branden Colvin, 42; Ryan Hitchcock, 51; and Daniel Prien, 60, were unaccounted for and had “high probability of being home at the time of the collapse.” All three have since been listed in the National Database of Missing Persons.

    The state task force was mobilized and on site to first search for survivors and then secure the structure, Halleran said. He said the search for survivors was completed Thursday evening after electrical equipment connected to the building was controlled. The state’s search and rescue team, search dogs and cameras were used in the search Thursday.

    Officials fear the unstable building will eventually collapse on its own. Adding to the challenge is a giant pile of brick and steel at the base of the building that is helping to hold up the structure but also may contain the remains of people killed in the collapse.

    “We are doing the best we can to balance the building conditions and the safety of our responders,” Fire Chief Mike Carlsten said. Conditions have forced a response that may take “days and weeks” instead of what ideally would have been minutes or hours after the collapse, he said.

    Mayor Mike Matson has said the debris pile “could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted” and stressed the city would be sensitive about those remains, comparing work at the site to an archeological dig.

    Work to bring down the building comes amid questions about why neither the owner nor city officials warned residents about potential danger even after a structural engineer’s report issued last week indicated a wall of the century-old building was at imminent risk of crumbling.

    Documents released Wednesday night show city officials and the building’s owner were warned for months that parts of the building were unstable.

    Current and former residents speaking with The Associated Press described concerns about interior cracks on the wall that ultimately collapsed that were reported to building management.

    The day before the collapse, the operations director of Downtown Davenport Partnership, an organization affiliated with the city’s chamber of commerce, called 911 to report concerns that a local contractor had relayed, the Quad City Times reported. The newspaper reported that fire officials who responded to the emergency call spent less than five minutes at the scene.

    “Do I have regrets about this tragedy and about people potentially losing their lives? Hell yeah. Do I think about this every moment? Hell yeah,” Matson said Thursday. “I have regrets about a lot of things. Believe me, we’re going to look at that.”

    City officials said Thursday that they did not order an evacuation because they relied on the engineer’s assurances that the building remained safe. Matson promised to improve inspections and to investigate what happened.

    Scott County prosecutor Kelly Cunningham cautioned Friday against assuming a criminal prosecution is appropriate, saying an independent investigation needs to be conducted into the cause of the building’s structural failure, and right now it’s in the city’s jurisdiction.

    The building collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. Rescue crews pulled seven people from the building in their initial response and escorted out 12 others who could walk on their own. Later, two more people were rescued, including a woman who was removed from the fourth floor hours after authorities said they were going to begin setting up for demolition.

    Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said transient people also often entered the building but there was no indication anyone else was inside and missing. Asked at a news conference Friday if any human remains have been found in the building, Matson said, “We can’t disclose that yet.”

    The Red Cross is hosting an event Saturday for displaced residents to get assistance. Each household will be eligible for a $6,000 grant from the city, and those meeting certain income requirements could get state payments of $5,000. Businesses that were in the building, as well as residents and businesses in nearby buildings that are at risk, will also be eligible for grants.

    On Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds waived fees associated with obtaining substitute driver’s licenses for affected residents.

    Andrew Wold, the building’s owner, released a statement dated Tuesday saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants.” He has made no statement since then, and efforts to reach him, his company and a man believed to be his attorney have been unsuccessful.

    County records show Davenport Hotel L.L.C. acquired the building in a 2021 deal worth $4.2 million.

    Tenants had complained to the city in recent years about a host of problems they say were ignored by property managers, including no heat or hot water for weeks or even months at a time, as well as mold and water leakage from ceilings and toilets. While city officials tried to address some complaints and gave vacate orders to individual apartments, a broader evacuation was never ordered, records show.

    City officials ordered repairs after they found seven fire code violations on Feb. 6. However, they were told three weeks later by building maintenance officials that “none of the work was completed,” records show.

    Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services, said Thursday that the city’s chief building official, Trishna Pradhan, voluntarily resigned after the collapse.

    Pradhan had visited the building on May 25, and erroneously reported it had “passed” an inspection in notes in the city’s online permitting system, Oswald said. She attempted to change the inspection result to “incomplete” on Tuesday — after the collapse — but a technical glitch instead listed the outcome as “failed,” he said, adding that the “incomplete” status is correct since the repair work was unfinished.

    Calls and text messages to Pradhan were not immediately returned.

    Assistant City Attorney Brian Heyer said he doesn’t know whether the city had considered earlier civil enforcement action to protect residents. Only after the collapse did the city file a civil infraction seeking a $300 fine against Wold for failing to maintain the structure in a safe manner. He will be required to pay for the cost of demolition, Heyer said.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Ryan J. Foley contributed from Iowa City and Summer Ballentine contributed from Jefferson City, Missouri.

    ___

    This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Branden Colvin’s name. His first name is spelled Branden, not Brandon.

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  • Rescuers at site of Iowa building collapse complete search for survivors, move on to recovery

    Rescuers at site of Iowa building collapse complete search for survivors, move on to recovery

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa task force has completed its search for survivors at the site of a partially collapsed Davenport apartment building without finding three missing people who are feared dead, authorities said Friday. The focus has shifted to shoring up the structure so recovery efforts can begin.

    The remains of the six-story apartment building were constantly in motion in the first 24 to 36 hours after it collapsed on Sunday, which officials said posed a risk to rescuers who were trying to search for survivors.

    “We do what the building tells us to do,” Rick Halleran, the task force’s Cedar Rapids division chief, said of the delay in searching the building.

    City officials earlier this week said that Branden Colvin, 42; Ryan Hitchcock, 51; and Daniel Prien, 60, were unaccounted for and had “high probability of being home at the time of the collapse.” All three have since been listed in the National Database of Missing Persons.

    The state task force was mobilized and on site to first search for survivors and then secure the structure, Halleran said. He said the search for survivors was completed Thursday evening after electrical equipment connected to the building was controlled. The state’s search and rescue team, search dogs and cameras were used in the search Thursday.

    Officials fear the unstable building will eventually collapse on its own. Adding to the challenge is a giant pile of brick and steel at the base of the building that is helping to hold up the structure but also may contain the remains of people killed in the collapse.

    “We are doing the best we can to balance the building conditions and the safety of our responders,” Fire Chief Mike Carlsten said. Conditions have forced a response that may take “days and weeks” instead of what ideally would have been minutes or hours after the collapse, he said.

    Mayor Mike Matson has said the debris pile “could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted” and stressed the city would be sensitive about those remains, comparing work at the site to an archeological dig.

    Work to bring down the building comes amid questions about why neither the owner nor city officials warned residents about potential danger even after a structural engineer’s report issued last week indicated a wall of the century-old building was at imminent risk of crumbling.

    Documents released Wednesday night show city officials and the building’s owner were warned for months that parts of the building were unstable.

    Current and former residents speaking with The Associated Press described concerns about interior cracks on the wall that ultimately collapsed that were reported to building management.

    The day before the collapse, the operations director of Downtown Davenport Partnership, an organization affiliated with the city’s chamber of commerce, called 911 to report concerns that a local contractor had relayed, the Quad City Times reported. The newspaper reported that fire officials who responded to the emergency call spent less than five minutes at the scene.

    “Do I have regrets about this tragedy and about people potentially losing their lives? Hell yeah. Do I think about this every moment? Hell yeah,” Matson said Thursday. “I have regrets about a lot of things. Believe me, we’re going to look at that.”

    City officials said Thursday that they did not order an evacuation because they relied on the engineer’s assurances that the building remained safe. Matson promised to improve inspections and to investigate what happened.

    Scott County prosecutor Kelly Cunningham cautioned Friday against assuming a criminal prosecution is appropriate, saying an independent investigation needs to be conducted into the cause of the building’s structural failure, and right now it’s in the city’s jurisdiction.

    The building collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. Rescue crews pulled seven people from the building in their initial response and escorted out 12 others who could walk on their own. Later, two more people were rescued, including a woman who was removed from the fourth floor hours after authorities said they were going to begin setting up for demolition.

    Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said transient people also often entered the building but there was no indication anyone else was inside and missing. Asked at a news conference Friday if any human remains have been found in the building, Matson said, “We can’t disclose that yet.”

    The Red Cross is hosting an event Saturday for displaced residents to get assistance. Each household will be eligible for a $6,000 grant from the city, and those meeting certain income requirements could get state payments of $5,000. Businesses that were in the building, as well as residents and businesses in nearby buildings that are at risk, will also be eligible for grants.

    On Friday, Gov. Kim Reynolds waived fees associated with obtaining substitute driver’s licenses for affected residents.

    Andrew Wold, the building’s owner, released a statement dated Tuesday saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants.” He has made no statement since then, and efforts to reach him, his company and a man believed to be his attorney have been unsuccessful.

    County records show Davenport Hotel L.L.C. acquired the building in a 2021 deal worth $4.2 million.

    Tenants had complained to the city in recent years about a host of problems they say were ignored by property managers, including no heat or hot water for weeks or even months at a time, as well as mold and water leakage from ceilings and toilets. While city officials tried to address some complaints and gave vacate orders to individual apartments, a broader evacuation was never ordered, records show.

    City officials ordered repairs after they found seven fire code violations on Feb. 6. However, they were told three weeks later by building maintenance officials that “none of the work was completed,” records show.

    Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services, said Thursday that the city’s chief building official, Trishna Pradhan, voluntarily resigned after the collapse.

    Pradhan had visited the building on May 25, and erroneously reported it had “passed” an inspection in notes in the city’s online permitting system, Oswald said. She attempted to change the inspection result to “incomplete” on Tuesday — after the collapse — but a technical glitch instead listed the outcome as “failed,” he said, adding that the “incomplete” status is correct since the repair work was unfinished.

    Calls and text messages to Pradhan were not immediately returned.

    Assistant City Attorney Brian Heyer said he doesn’t know whether the city had considered earlier civil enforcement action to protect residents. Only after the collapse did the city file a civil infraction seeking a $300 fine against Wold for failing to maintain the structure in a safe manner. He will be required to pay for the cost of demolition, Heyer said.

    ___

    Associated Press reporters Ryan J. Foley contributed from Iowa City and Summer Ballentine contributed from Jefferson City, Missouri.

    ___

    This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Branden Colvin’s name. His first name is spelled Branden, not Brandon.

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  • Residents of collapsed Iowa building allowed to stay as reports noted crumbling wall

    Residents of collapsed Iowa building allowed to stay as reports noted crumbling wall

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — A structural engineer report issued just days before an Iowa apartment building partially collapsed indicated a wall of the century-old structure was in imminent risk of crumbling, yet officials did not order residents to leave and said Thursday they relied on the engineer’s assurances that the building remained safe.

    Three residents of the six-story building in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport are still unaccounted for and there are no immediate plans to demolish what remains of the extremely unstable structure, according to local officials. Crews were using drones to scan the building and consulting with experts about how to safely bring down the structure while being respectful of bodies that could be buried in a debris pile, Mayor Mike Matson said.

    “It’s dangerous, and it’s shifting,” Matson said.

    The six-story building partially collapsed shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday. Rescue crews pulled seven people from the building in their initial response and escorted out 12 others who could walk on their own. Later, two more people were rescued, including one woman who was removed from a fourth-floor unit hours after authorities said they were going to begin setting up for demolition.

    Earlier this week, authorities said five people were missing, but Davenport Police Chief Jeff Bladel said during a media briefing Thursday morning that two of them have since been accounted for and are safe. One moved out of the building a month ago and was found in Texas, and the other was found locally.

    City officials on Thursday named those unaccounted for as Brandon Colvin, Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Prien. The city added that “It is believed these three individuals have high probability of being home at the time of the collapse and their apartments were located in the collapse zone.”

    The city on Wednesday night released documents, including structural engineering reports, that show the building’s owner was warned that the parts of the building were unstable.

    An engineer’s report dated May 24, just four days before the collapse, suggested patches in the west side of the building’s brick façade “appear ready to fall imminently” and could be a safety hazard to cars or passersby.

    The engineer’s report also detailed that window openings, some filled and some unfilled, were insecure. In one case, the openings were “bulging outward” and looked “poised to fall.” Inside the first floor, unsupported window openings help “explain why the façade is currently about to topple outward.”

    “The brick façade is unlikely to be preserved in place, but it can be brought down in a safe, controlled manner,” the report stated.

    Despite the warnings, city officials did not order that about 50 tenants leave the building.

    Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services, said officials relied on assurances from the structural engineer that the building wasn’t in imminent danger of collapsing. Asked whether the city should have required an examination by an engineer not paid by the building owner, Oswald said professional engineers can be trusted.

    “A professional engineer is certified, right? They put their stamp on that. That’s their professional career to make those decisions,” Oswald said. “An engineers report stamped by that engineer is a qualified report. They have state licensing. That’s their job.”

    Andrew Wold, the building’s owner, released a statement dated Tuesday saying “our thoughts and prayers are with our tenants” and that his company, Davenport Hotel, L.L.C., is working with agencies to help them.

    County records show Davenport Hotel, L.L.C. acquired the building in 2021 in a deal worth $4.2 million. The city later declared the building a nuisance due to numerous solid waste violations, and a judge ordered Wold to pay a $4,500 penalty after he did not appear in court.

    On Tuesday, the city filed a new enforcement action against Wold, saying that he had failed to maintain the property “in a safe, sanitary, and structurally sound condition” before the collapse. The city is seeking a $300 fine.

    Emails sent to an attorney believed to be representing Wold have not been returned.

    Residents in recent months have made numerous complaints about the building, and documents show that others also notified the city of potential problems.

    MidAmerican Energy, an electric and gas utility, complained to the city in early February about an unsafe and deteriorating brick wall at the west corner of the building. The utility told city officials that its employees would not work in the area until improvements were made, including the installation of scaffolding.

    A city notice dated Feb. 2 said the wall was gradually failing and cited “visible crumbling of this exterior load bearing wall under the support beam.” The notice also said the exterior brick veneer had separated and allowed rain and ice to cause damage, and that the electrical and gas equipment on the outer wall had to be protected from the failure.

    The notice ordered Davenport Hotel LLC to provide an engineer’s letter “stating this is not an imminent danger” and to take immediate steps to repair the problems, including installing scaffolding for protection so utility workers would be protected.

    “Emergency vacate orders will be posted on the building if the failing masonry area is not secured per this letter,” warned the document, signed by the city’s chief building official, Trishna Pradhan.

    A Feb. 8 letter to the city from Select Structural, an engineering firm in Bettendorf, said an engineer conducted an emergency site visit Feb. 2 and determined the crumbling wall “is not an imminent threat to the building or its residents, but structural repairs will be necessary.” It called for replacing a wall and other repairs, but cautioned of risk.

    City inspectors monitored progress at the site and learned Feb. 28 that “the west wall has collapsed into the scaffolding” and were informed by workers that “it’s going to be a bigger job that (cq.) what they believed it to be,” a city spreadsheet shows.

    By March 3, the contractor, Bi-State Masonry, Inc., walked off the job after the building owner balked at approving a change order with a higher price tag due to “unforeseen work needing performed,” the document states. It’s unclear what happened next.

    ___

    Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.

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  • Mayor: 5 unaccounted for including 2 likely in wreckage of collapsed Iowa apartment building

    Mayor: 5 unaccounted for including 2 likely in wreckage of collapsed Iowa apartment building

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    DES MOINES, Iowa — Five people remain unaccounted for, including two people whose remains may be in a pile of rubble at the site of a partially collapsed apartment building, officials of the city of Davenport, Iowa, said Tuesday.

    Mayor Mike Matson confirmed the numbers at a news conference following criticism that the city was moving too quickly toward demolishing the building before making sure that no one is still inside. Protests erupted after a woman was rescued Monday night, hours after the city ordered the demolition to begin as early as Tuesday.

    “This could be a place of rest for some of the unaccounted,” Matson said. The city is trying to determine exactly how to bring down what remains of the building in a way that accounts for the dignity of people who may have been killed, he said.

    A family member of one of the missing people also spoke, pleading with people to understand that authorities want to bring the remains of the six-story building down in a controlled way without dumping more material onto the rubble pile. “I plead with community to let the city do their job,” the woman said.

    The building is “unstable and continues to worsen as time progresses,” Fire Marshal James Morris said. “It’s the opinion of the structural engineer that any additional search operations in the area of that pile of debris should be avoided due to potential collapse. We are currently evaluating the risk assessment of where we can go back into that building to do this other search.”

    “We’re very sympathetic to the possibility that there’s two people” still left inside, Morris said as he fought back tears.

    Protesters carried signs Tuesday morning near the building site, saying “Find Them First” and “Who is in the Rubble?” Some used a megaphone to shout out names of building residents. The building had 53 tenants in about 80 units, the police chief said.

    City officials said rescue crews escorted 12 people from the building shortly after a middle section collapsed at about 5 p.m. Sunday, and rescued several others, including one person who was taken to safety overnight Sunday.

    “There was a lot of screams, a lot of cries, a lot of people saying ‘Help!’ when the building came down,” Tadd Mashovec, a resident of the building, told KCCI-TV. “But that did not last, and two or three minutes, and then the whole area was silent.”

    By Monday morning, Fire Chief Michael Carlsten said “no known individuals are trapped.”

    The city then issued a statement saying that the owner had been served with a demolition order and the process would begin Tuesday morning.

    The discovery of another survivor Monday evening, rescued by ladder truck from a fourth-floor window, prompted the city to reevaluate, they said.

    “We had no indications from any of the responders that we had, any of the canines, any of the tools at the time” that there was anyone else left alive in the building, Morris said.

    The building remains unstable, shifting, and too dangerous for people to search through the rubble pile until it is carefully brought down, they said.

    It wasn’t clear what immediately caused the collapse, which left a gaping hole in the center of what was once the Davenport Hotel, a building listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. Built in 1907, the brick over steel and concrete structure had been renovated into a mixed-use building with residential and commercial spaces.

    Work was being done on the building’s exterior at the time of the collapse, said Rich Oswald, the city’s director of development and neighborhood services. Reports of falling bricks were part of that work, and the building’s owner had a permit for the project, Oswald said.

    The fire marshal said Tuesday that the owner had also hired a structural engineer who determined that the building was safe enough to remain occupied during the repairs.

    Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a disaster proclamation activating the Iowa Individual Assistance Grant Program and the Disaster Case Management Program for the residents left homeless. The property owner was served Monday with a demolition order, and residents were prevented from going back inside to remove their belongings, due to the building’s unstable condition.

    Authorities confirmed that multiple residents had complained of unmet maintenance problems. Quad-City Times reported nearly 20 permits were filed in 2022, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues, according to the county assessor’s office.

    The collapse didn’t surprise Schlaan Murray, a former resident, who told The Associated Press that his one-year stay there was “a nightmare.”

    Murray, 46, moved into his apartment in February 2022 and almost immediately began having issues — the heat and air conditioner didn’t work, and there were plumbing problems in the bathroom. Multiple calls to the management company rarely got a response, and when a maintenance person did stop by, they never completely fixed the problems, he said.

    “They would come in and put some caulk on it,” he said. “But it needed more than that. They didn’t fix stuff, they just patched it up.”

    He questions how the building passed inspections.

    “It was horrible,” Murray said, adding that he felt the conditions were so bad that he didn’t want to bring his children to his apartment.

    Murray said he moved out a month before his lease was up in March, and still hasn’t received his security deposit. Despite deplorable conditions, many residents were like him, he said, struggling to come up with the first and last month’s rent, plus security deposit, required to move elsewhere.

    ____

    Associated Press contributors include Freida Frisaro in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Trisha Ahmed in Minneapolis, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, and Beatrice Dupuy in New York City.

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  • Fire chief in Iowa says one person rescued overnight from building collapse in Davenport; number of missing unclear

    Fire chief in Iowa says one person rescued overnight from building collapse in Davenport; number of missing unclear

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    Fire chief in Iowa says one person rescued overnight from building collapse in Davenport; number of missing unclear

    DAVENPORT, Iowa — Fire chief in Iowa says one person rescued overnight from building collapse in Davenport; number of missing unclear.

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  • Building partially collapses in Davenport, Iowa; potential injuries not immediately known

    Building partially collapses in Davenport, Iowa; potential injuries not immediately known

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    DAVENPORT, Iowa — Part of a building collapsed in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport on Sunday evening. It was not immediately known if there were any injuries or deaths, or if anyone was trapped.

    The Davenport Police Department asked people to avoid downtown after the red brick building on Main Street collapsed. The department said on its Facebook page that a nearby church was being used as a reunification point.

    The cause of the collapse around 5 p.m. was not immediately known.

    The Quad-City Times reported Robert Robinson, who lived on the building’s second floor, walked outside for a smoke break and went back in as alarms went off.

    “When we started to go back in the lights went out,” he told the newspaper. “All of a sudden everybody started running out saying the building collapsed. I’m glad we came down when we did.”

    Robinson and his girlfriend were able to take the elevator down just in time, he said.

    “This is horrible,” he said. “We don’t have anywhere to go. Nothing to eat.”

    Tadd Machovec, a contractor from Davenport, said he was inside and was working to put up a support beam when the building came down.

    Some people in the area said the building has had problems.

    Jennifer Smith, co-owner of Fourth Street Nutrition, said she learned of the explosion from her husband, who works for Mid-American Energy.

    “He was on call and got called in for a building explosion downtown. We had no idea it was our building,” she said. “It sounds bad, but we have been calling the city and giving complaints since December. Our bathroom caved in December.”

    Smith said water damage has been apparent since they moved into their space in the winter. The company’s co-owner, Deonte Mack, said fire crews were in the building as recently as Thursday for an inspection.

    “The tenants told us the building was going to collapse,” Smith said.

    The Quad-City Times reported the building is owned by Andrew Wold. A working phone number for Wold was not immediately available Sunday night and attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

    According to the county assessor’s office, the last permit for the building was filed on March 2 and had “misc” listed in the description. In 2022, nearly 20 permits were filed, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues.

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