Thomas Breen file photo
Emergency workers on scene of partial building collapse.
Fire Chief Alston (center): "That building is still in a dangerous state."
Eight construction workers were injured, two critically, before firefighters rescued them Friday from a partial building collapse.
Calls about the incident came into the 911 center at 12:38 p.m. at a Yale-owned lot at 188 Lafayette St. in the Hill, where developer Randy Salvatore is constructing a seven-story, 112-unit apartment building.
Construction workers “were pouring concrete on the second floor, and it collapsed into the first and into the basement,” reported city emergency management chief Rick Fontana. Some of the workers “were trapped in concrete.”
New Haven firefighters arrived to rescue them. Firefighters had to pull out six of the injured construction workers from the scene, while two of the injured workers were able to walk out on their own. The injured workers were then taken by ambulance to the hospital, where two are in critical condition, according to Mayor Justin Elicker. No firefighters were reported injured.
According to city spokesperson Lenny Speiller, as of 5 p.m., one of the injured workers was still in critical condition, while another was “critical, but stabilized.” He said emergency crews were still onsite and “will be for some time until the building is cleared.”
Update: According to a Yale New Haven Hospital spokesperson, as of 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, four of the eight injured construction workers had been discharged from the hospital. Of the four patients who remained admitted to the hospital at that time, three were in “fair condition” and one was in “serious condition.”
A total of 36 construction workers were assigned to the site. A representative of the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) arrived mid-afternoon. Work on the site has been shut down for now.
Officials update press at the scene Friday afternoon.
“That building is still in a dangerous state,” Fire Chief John Alston Jr. said at a press conference held near the site at 2:20 p.m. He warned people to stay away.
Salvatore told the Independent at 2 p.m. that initial indications are that the workers were pouring a ramp when the portion of the building collapsed. He said a company called Seven Concrete has been working on the foundation of the building. Earlier Friday morning a safety team had been on site, Salvatore said.
“We want to get to the bottom of this. The most important thing is everyone’s” safety, Salvatore said. “We’ll sort everything else out as we go along.”
City Building Official Bob Dillon.
Alston said the accident occurred during a “concrete cement pour” on the structure’s first residential level, which was above three levels of garage (two of which were underground, one above ground).
“You have workers up there spreading it as its being applied to that level,” he said about the concrete cement pour on the building’s second above-ground level. “It began to pool in a certain area faster than they could [spread it] and it caused it to cave. … It got away from them. It looks like it all pooled on one side.” He said the department has drone footage it will review as it investigates the incident.
He added that several of the workers suffered broken bones. Three “were partially buried under the rubble.”
Rescue workers stayed in communication with the construction foreman during the rescue to make sure everyone was accounted for, Alston said. The rescuers had to lift the trapped workers out of the rubble “because of the level that [the workers] fell through.” He praised the firefighters for “excellent work under harrowing conditions” including “sharp rebar” and unstable walls.
“This is a mass casualty incident,” Fontana said during the presser. “A lot of work goes into accountability” and making sure all workers are accounted for. He and Alston and the mayor all praised the fire department, AMR, the police department, and a host of other emergency first responders for their work on the scene.
“There will be a significant investigation,” Elicker promised, to find out what went wrong. The city will also be issuing a stop work order Friday to Salvatore’s company for this project.
Yale owns the property on which Salvatore’s company, RMS Lafayette LLC, is building the apartment complex. RMS owns the structure itself.
