Zanesville, Learning from Others’ Mistakes in Building Collapses

It never hurts to learn from other’s mistakes. But few seem able to do it. That’s why the worst elements of history repeat themselves over and over again.

Officials in Zanesville, Ohio have apparently taken to heart many of the lessons learned from the tragic deaths and injuries stemming from the Philadelphia Center Street building collapse into a Salvation Army store. Apparently someone in Zanesville called in a report that a hawk had been seen flying into an abandoned building on Main Street. And that call led to inspections by a wildlife official and firefighters who found that parts of the buildings had collapsed. The buildings’ rear wall had fallen down through the first floor ceilings.

To me, that sequence of events and its response already seems well above average in terms of official concern. For instance, just this past New Year’s Eve at my apartment complex, multiple residents or their guests were shooting off firearms in celebration of the New Year. (I personally don’t get how wasting ammo constitutes due celebration.) It sounded like a firefight between rival gangs (which have also occurred). And as our complex is not the most sturdy and the gunfire just went on and on, I finally called it in to 911. The dispatcher asked me (seriously), “And what makes you think they don’t have good aim?”

So I was a bit shocked to read of the concern and careful preparations to try and prevent possible building collapse injuries in Zanesville. Actually, I’m wondering if I should move there. It sounds like a good place.

The officials cordoned off the buildings and brought in structural engineers and people from multiple companies to evaluate the situation. A structural engineer involved in the work refused to speculate on possible scenarios and properly referred questions to the city.

If you recall, in the Philadelphia Center Street building collapse,

• A safety plan was neither prepared nor filed;
• The work went ahead even as lawyers of the demolition contractor and the Salvation Army continued to dispute particulars;
• The work went ahead even though various knowledgeable parties had stressed the very real and potentially deadly dangers from the project;
• The Salvation Army store remained open for business even as the careless nature of the demolition next door became apparent;
• The contractor removed parts for salvage resale that were key to the structural integrity of the building, and left 3- to 4-story high brick walls standing without support; and
• The demolition of the old building, which should have been done slowly by hand from the outside, was done quickly from the inside with heavy equipment. (In the end, the building, left without internal structural support, demolished itself.)

In Zanesville:

• The sidewalk in front of the building has already been barricaded against accidental collapse and injury.
• A plan, involving blocking streets and setting possible detours, is being developed to minimize the impact of the 606 and 608 Main Street structures’ deterioration on nearby people and businesses.
• A risk assessment, involving structural engineers and representatives from several companies, is underway to determine whether the buildings need to be demolished.
• Extra care is being taken due to the realization that heavy rains or snow (common contributors to structural collapse) could exacerbate the situation.

So far, the determination indicates that there’s no imminent threat of further collapse in the structures. But Service Director Jim Sawyer said that, “It’s better to have a plan of action in pace than to wait for something to happen.” (Brian Gadd, Zanesville Times Recorder, 1/1/14)

Truer words were never spoken. Our building collapse injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC expect that the grieving families and friends and seriously injured people in Philadelphia no doubt wish that their local officials had thought along the same lines.