Three Oklahoma City Firefighters Hurt In Collapse

Feb. 28--Three Oklahoma City firefighters were hurt battling a three-alarm blaze Monday afternoon at a mostly empty shopping center at NW 10 near Meridian Avenue.

One firefighter was taken to Integris Southwest Medical Center in good condition, EMSA spokeswoman Lara O'Leary said. Two other firefighters suffered minor injuries, she said.

About 2 p.m., heavy smoke and fire were reported on the second floor of the building, 4223 NW 10, and the brunt of the fire was out by 3:30 p.m. Firefighters were extinguishing hot spots when a section of an upstairs floor collapsed about 4:30 p.m., Oklahoma City fire Battalion Chief Mike Kelley said.

"We had three people on top of that section, and when that dropped, one of them was lightly trapped, but all three of them fell through and rode that section of floor down," Kelley said.

"In this instance, because of where the collapse happened, one of the people that was involved in the collapse could signal to us that he was OK, but there was other people in there with him," he said.

"There was one that was lightly trapped. They got the debris off of him. They took the necessary precautions as far as immobilization and brought him out," Kelley said.

All three were conscious after the collapse, but one was taken out of the building on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance, he said.

"Two of them walked out under their own power," Kelley said.

The building, which was once Hobby Lobby's flagship store in Oklahoma City, was sold by the company in 1998. It was renovated into a flea market but is mostly vacant, fire officials said.

The cause was not determined Monday, and a preliminary estimate of the damage is $400,000, Kelley said.

Copyright 2012 - The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City