Jan 28, 2008 10:24 pm US/Pacific
1 Dead, 2 Hurt In Demolition Of Old SF Building
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ―
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A partial building collapse occurred at an old Pacific Gas & Electric Company plant in San Francisco's Bayview District.
CBS
A large industrial boiler at an abandoned power substation collapsed during demolition Monday, killing a worker and seriously injuring two others who had to be freed by firefighters, authorities told CBS 5.
Firefighters were dispatched about noon to the old Pacific Gas & Electric facility at 1000 Evans Ave. & Jennings Street in San Francisco's Bay View-Hunter's Point district after the three were reported trapped beneath one of four giant boilers.
Both of the survivors were pulled from the wreckage and rushed to the emergency trauma unit of San Francisco General Hospital. One of them suffered life-threatening injuries, while the other suffered injuries from crushed legs, said SFFD spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge.
Identities of the injured were not immediately released, but the hospital said the pair were men, aged in their 40s and 50s.
Monday evening, Firefighters were able to safely pull the body of the construction worker who was crushed under the wreckage, and is in the custody of the San Francisco medical examiner's office, according to officials.
The man, still unidentified, was recovered at about 9 p.m., said San Francisco fire Lt. Ken Smith. There were no reported injuries in the nearly six-hour extrication process.
The building where the incident occured is made up of large steel girders that hold equipment and large boilers. The construction crews were trying to detach the four-to-five-story high boiler and surrounding metal beams right before it collapsed, Talmadge said.
The workers involved in the mishap were employees of a subcontractor working with PG&E to decontaminate and demolish the old building, a process that's been underway since May 2006, the utility company said.
The subcontractor was identified as LVI Demolition Services. A statement issued on their behalf said the company was "deeply saddened by the incident" and was cooperating with investigators.
According to Cal-OSHA records reviewed by CBS 5, LVI was fined $5,000 in 2003 for what regulators termed a serious violation involving the removal of hazardous materials from a job site. It was the only serious violation for which the firm had been cited.
Cal-OSHA investigators were examining Monday's wreckage scene to determine if state workplace health and safey guidelines were properly followed, but officials said it would take several months to complete their report on the mishap.
PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer said the utility was working with the San Francisco building inspector and other officials to make sure that the remaining structure is safe and stable, but indicated "our main concern right now is the folks who were injured."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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