Savannah Firefighters Respond To Parking Garage Collapse

July 15, 2004
"Part of the building that was under construction had fallen," said Chief Anthony Faust of the Savannah Fire Department.

Two workers were injured today in the partial collapse of a parking garage under construction at Candler Hospital. Crews from Shelco Inc. based out of Bluffton, South Carolina, have been working to construct the $5 million garage since May. But today, the multimillion dollar project come to a halt, when two workers fell into a pit after, fire investigators say, a wall partially collapsed.

"Part of the building that was under construction had fallen," said Chief Anthony Faust of the Savannah Fire Department. "But the two victims were not impacted by that collapse. They had fallen into a hole that was nearby. Evidently their injuries are not life-threatening."

They had to be extracted using Stokes baskets, which took about emergency crews about 30 minutes.

Officials from Shelco say it's too early to determine exactly what happened. "At this point, we're interviewing eyewitnesses, taking statements, and beyond that, it would be premature to say exactly what happened." said the company's Brendan Bambrick.

Structural engineers came to the site to determine who long the job will remain closed. "First and foremost, we want to make sure everything is safe and secure, the well being of all the employees attended to," said Bambrick. "we will be doing an inspection to make sure everything is safe."

Due to the nature of the accident, both workers were taken to Memorial Health's trauma center, where they are listed in good condition.

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