ST. MARYS — A man who was trapped in the rubble after a building collapsed is detailing what happened leading up to and after it.
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The collapse happened around 10:30 a.m. in the 300 block of Spring Street. St. Marys Fire Chief Doug Ayers said it happened in what he believes is one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Kevin Sharp was one of the two men who were trapped in the rubble from the collapse. He spoke to News Center 7’s John Bedell on the phone Friday as he continues to recover from his injuries.
Sharp was released from the hospital on Thursday.
“I’m in a lot of pain and I can’t very well get around at all,” Sharp said.
He told News Center 7 that he was living in the building that collapsed. He also said he’s known the building’s owner, Todd Klosterman, for more than a decade.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Sharp said he was with his friend and general laborer, Chris Brown, as they were both working for Klosterman at his building on Thursday. They were surveying a wall to get it ready for a contractor to work on it.
“We was assessing the situation to see what the best, safest way to do it was,” Sharp said.
Klosterman told News Center 7 on Thursday that he knew about structural issues and was working on prepping for Mason Construction to start repairs.
The men had even done some actual work on the building earlier in the week.
“Yes, previously in the week we had shored up the first floor in the basement area,” Sharpe said.
On Thursday morning, Sharp and Brown were outside, right up against the building, looking at what to do with the second floor when something went wrong.
“As we were working, the building - we heard a popping noise,” Sharp said. “And I told Chris we have to get out of here because it’s gonna fall.”
Sharp described tucking his head into the door casing of the side door in the hope of surviving the falling debris.
“And the bricks tumbled off the side of my body. Large pieces of the building and basically was knocked to the ground,” he said.
Brown was buried by the rubble.
“I tried to shout for him right away, and I didn’t hear anything,” he said.
Sharp was pinned, but was able to free himself.
“I went into survival mode,” he said.
A police officer and a firefighter were able to drag him to safety. Hours later, he learned crews were not able to save Brown.
“I really like Chris a lot and he has a lot of people that are just going to miss him,” Sharp said.
People like Darrell Kennedy, who was supposed to get together and hang out with Brown on Friday. News Center 7 caught up with Kennedy at a makeshift memorial for his friend, who was more like family.
“It was like a brother’s bond,” Kennedy said.
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