ST. MARYS — One person is dead and another is hurt after a building collapse in St. Marys on Thursday.
Fire Chief Doug Ayers said the collapse happened around 10:30 a.m. at what he believes is one of the oldest buildings in the city.
Ayers said they’re working to figure out whether two men who were trapped in the rubble were either just inside or outside the building when it gave.
>> PHOTOS: Building partially collapses in St. Marys
They rescued one of the men quickly.
“And that person told us that there was somebody else in the rubble,” Ayers said.
But as firefighters kept working, the chief said more bricks fell, and it became unsafe for his crews to keep searching.
They had to pull back and call in crews from all over central and western Ohio who specialize in these kinds of rescues.
“To shore up the building and be able to make entry in a safe manner,” Ayers said.
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News Center 7 asked Ayers what the two men were doing in or near the building.
He said his unconfirmed report was that they were asked by the building owner to shore up the first floor, which was starting to sag, and while they were doing that, the collapse occurred.
News Center 7 discovered there were concerns about the building that collapsed.
“The tattoo company left because of the wall bowing and the floor. So they were already concerned about some structural issues,” Ayers said.
News Center 7 spoke to Todd Klosterman, the building owner.
“We had an issue with the foundation, and we moved the people out of there. And we were working on the building to fix that issue,” Klosterman said.
He said the two men are friends of his and were working to get the building ready for repairs by a contractor.
Around 4:12 p.m., firefighters pulled a body from the rubble after around two hours of searching.
Ayers identified the man who died as someone local.
We are working to learn if next of kin have been notified before releasing his identity.
OSHA is also investigating the collapse.
News Center 7 has also reached out to the city to learn if there had been concerns about the condition of the building before the collapse.
We will continue to follow this story.
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