At least eight people were hurt when a six-story apartment building in Davenport, Iowa, partially collapsed on Sunday night, according to the police.
Davenport Fire Chief Mike Carlsten stated on Monday morning that “we are currently finishing the rescue phase of our operation and it will soon become a recovery operation.”
To assist, canines were brought in. First responders who rushed in at their own risk saved lives, according to Carlsten and Davenport Mayor Mike Matsen. According to Carlsten, the collapse happened on Sunday just before 5 o’clock local time. It was not immediately obvious what caused the collapse.
Firefighting personnel discovered a “large natural gas leak,” Carlsten stated. The Times said that gas and water lines to the building had been turned off and that water was reportedly pouring down from busted pipes. Concerns regarding the building’s overall structural stability were raised by the fire department.
“Even while we were on scene, we still had multiple secondary drops of debris coming from that structure,” Carlsten said. “We want to make sure all our responders can are able to process through in a safe manner, but we still want to get through there as quickly as possible.”
The building’s owner had secured permits for repairs on its exterior brick walls, officials said. The owners had two other permits issued for exterior brickwork over the last year, officials said. Falling bricks were reported over the last week from that repair work.
Various tenants have called the city to complain about different problems with the building. “Notices and orders were issued to the building owner for repairs,” one official said.
Davenport is about 70 miles from Cedar Rapids along the eastern part of the state’s border with Illinois.
