THE SEARCH OF THE COLLAPSED MIXED-USE BUILDING resumes today at 8 am.  The two people who were missing yesterday have both been recovered.  One man was found trapped but relatively unhurt just before 6 pm Wednesday evening.

The second worker who was the man that had been listed as “unaccounted for” was found dead in the rubble shortly after.  He has been identified as Scott Giordano of Disputanta, Virginia.

More wood chips and glue.
(Richmond Times-Dispatch photo)

It was planned to continue the search through the night for any unknown victims, but it had to be suspended because of a rainfall.  Search teams were concerned about water ponding on the fallen building and putting more weight on a completely unstable structure.  It was determined to wait until this morning to resume the search, although there are not any known to be missing.

WTVR Ch. 6 has six videos taken throughout the operation HERE.

The 2-story structure was nearly completed when a large cracking sound alerted the dozens of workers inside to get out.  Within moments the second story  of the 60-ft.-wide building pancaked onto the ground floor level.  It is not known why the building failed.  See the earlier reports and videos on Firegeezer HERE and HERE.

The Associated Press has this video report:

DESPITE CONTINUING REPORTS THAT AS MANY as 12 workmen are unaccounted for, Chesterfield County Fire & Rescue believe that there are probably just one or two people trapped in the collapse.  (See earlier Firegeezer report HERE.)

The 2-story building was nearly completed when the roof and 2nd floor suddenly pancaked onto the ground floor just before 1 pm this afternoon.  The building was designed to have commercial occupancies on the ground level and apartments on the upper floor.

WWBT

People working in the building are saying that the only warning they had was a loud creaking sound as the beams started failing.  Most of them bailed out before the collapse.

Chesterfield F & R is being assisted by tactical rescue teams from City of Richmond and Henrico and Hanover Counties.

WWBT Ch. 12 has this raw video taken from their helicopter:

 Click HERE to see earlier video from Ch. 6 including an interview with an eyewitness.

A COMMERCIAL MIXED-USE BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION in Chesterfield County, Virginia, collapsed just before 1:00 pm today trapping several workers.

WWBT Ch. 12 image

At first it was feared that as many as 12 workmen were buried, but most of them got out.  Latest report has one still trapped and another unaccounted for.

Tactical rescue teams from Chesterfield and Henrico Counties are on the scene.

Check back for updates as infomation comes in.

WTVR Ch. 6 has an early video report:

A MASSIVE ROCKSLIDE IN A CAIRO SLUM Saturday has buried untold dozens under huge limestone boulders.

photos by AFP

The cliff had been weakened by the runoff of raw sewage from an illegal slum settlement at the top of the bluff.  Early Saturday morning a big section of the cliff broke away and tumbled down on another illegal settlement below.

Some of the boulders are as large as a small house and rescuers have been having a difficult time clearing away the rubble in the search for victims.  So far, they have found 51 bodies but they expect that several dozen remain.  Some estimates range as high as 500.

The rescuers are carefully breaking the larger boulders into smaller pieces that can be hauled away without causing still another slide.

Residents of the area are unhappy with the slow progress of the rescue and are showing their displeasure by pelting the rescuers with rocks, thus slowing it down even more.

Half of the more than 16 million people in Cairo are estimated to live in illegally constructed buildings without access to government services such as water and sewage treatment.

The AFP has a report HERE.

The Associated Press has this early video report:

A CHINESE MAN IN YULIN PROVINCE will be looking for some new friends to go drinking with.

The China Broadcast Network is reporting that the man was out drinking with his buddies recently, but when he woke up the next morning he found that he had a heavy duty anti-theft bicycle lock around his neck.

“It must be a joke my friends played on me,” said the man, adding that he called his friends, but their phones were all turned off.

To avoid being late for work, he drove his motorbike to the local fire station and asked for help.  Firefighters decided to use a hydraulic shear to release the man.

“One man held the lock stable, another cut it off, and the third man protected his neck,” said a spokesman for the fire station.

The lock was off in less than five minutes. The man thanked the firefighters and said he would have words with his friends after work.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, FIREFIGHTERS HAD TO TRADE in their helmets for beekeeper hoods yesterday.

A surprising bee swarm had a family trapped inside their house Sunday and the FD was called to help.  The beehive was nestled inside the wall of their house, but they were never aware of it until something spooked the bees and they came out in a mad swarm.  Fortunately for the family, they went outside the house instead of inside where they first attacked the family dog.  Then the thousands of bees kept trying to enter the home.

WOAI-TV

When the FD arrived on the scene, they donned full gear and went inside where they wrapped each of the family members in blankets for protection and walked them outside to safety while dispatch called some beekeepers to respond.  Once they got there, they fit the FF’s with bee-proof hoods and they went inside and opened up the wall so the beekeeper could remove the hive and take it outside.

Everybody in the family is ok, but the dog didn’t make it.

WOAI-TV has the STORY and this good video report:

GETTING A SNAKE OUT OF A KITCHEN cabinet is a walk in the park compared to the challenge that faced the Banksville Fire Department in New York’s Hudson River valley.

Apparently, a show horse got out of its pasturage Monday evening and then got spooked, perhaps from being lost, and went charging through a woods.  When it came to a hillside, the panicked animal started running down it and near the foot was a neighbor’s garage.

The horse then leapt onto the roof of the garage and one of its legs went right through the roof, entrapping the animal right there.

The FD was called and they sized up the situation, first calling for a veterinarian to come and tranquilized the horse.  Then they jury-rigged a ramp and walked the horse down to safety.

The Lower Hudson Journal News has the complete story HERE.

While there weren’t any photos or video taken during the incident, the Banksville Fire Chief gave this video interview for the RNN:

ONE OF DAVE STATTER’S FAVORITE PREDICTIONS is about the rapid spread of personal videos leading to the eventual reporting of a rescue by both the rescuer and the rescuee.  We had one example of that back in May when we showed you a photo (HERE) taken by a sports photographer who had a javelin stuck in his leg while shooting a track meet.

Today we step a little closer to complete disaster with this video taken by a sky diver in Norway.  Hans Lange was taking what they call a “base jump” wearing a newly-popular soaring suit a la Batman that allows the jumper to guide his way through canyons and such.

BBC News

Hans had a helmet-cam attached and recorded his flight including the part where his parachute malfunctions.  This helmet-cam was the better model that has a microphone pickup on it too and we get to hear his howls of dismay as he realizes he’s not going to make it.

Then he lucks out a little bit and gets to land in some trees where the running commentary changes its tenor as poor Hans breaks his leg.  He keeps the helmet running as the rescue helicopter lifts him away.  You’ve been forewarned before you watch the video:

WAYNE COX OF LEESBURG, NEW JERSEY, HAD THAT SINKING FEELING Wednesday when the tide went out while he was fishing.

The 60-yr.-old man was offshore in his 14-ft. boat fishing with his back to the shore as the tide was going out.  When he turned around to start back home, he found out that he was stranded in the mud about 150 ft. from shore.

Since he was alone and the boat was stuck, he decided to try and wade from the boat back to land.  Wrong decision.  He’d gotten no farther than a few feet when he sunk down into the muck up to his neck.  There he stayed with only his head above the mud for nearly two hours until a passing motorist caught a glimpse of his head and called 911.

WCAU Ch. 10

The Heislerville Vol. Fire Dept. came to the rescue and after 45 minutes of hard labor, freed Cox from his entrapment.  He suffered no injuries and he’s doing fine except for a bout of embarrassment.

WCAU

The Press of Atlantic City has the STORY.

A TEAM OF ISRAELI FIREFIGHTERS are in France for specialized training in swift-water and high angle rescue situations.

Yesterday, Wednesday, they were at the Mieux River to do some evolutions in its notably strong current when they saw a local girl in a kayak flip over and go under water.

The young girl can just barely be seen
trapped under the surface of the swift water.
(Rescue Services photo)

Ynet news reports what happened next:

“We were on the river bank preparing for water rescue. The current was strong, and families were paddling it in kayaks, one of which held a 10-year old girl,” Oren Shishatzki, of the Petah Tikva fire station said.

Suddenly the firemen noticed that the girl had turned over, and that her head was in the water below the kayak. The strong current pushed her towards the rocks near the bank. 

“Two immediately jumped in and swam to the overturned kayak,” Shishatzki said. “The kayak couldn’t be righted, so they dove under the water, released the girl, and pulled her out onto the bank.” 

The girl was uninjured and in fine shape after they got her out of the water.

Read the full story HERE.

HANNOVER, GERMANY, FIREFIGHTERS HAD A MESS on their hands last Monday the 19th.  A car had stopped to repair a flat tire and another auto stopped to assist.  While there, a police car with two officers in it pulled up behind the cars and put its blue lights and warning blinkers on.

The tire change was completed and everybody was back in their vehicles, ready to pull back onto the roadway and continue their journeys.  Just at that moment a 7½-ton refrigerated truck came along and plowed into the rear of the police car and driving all three cars into a heap.

The truck ended up on its side resting on one of the cars.  The police officer that was driving their car was completely mashed and trapped in the vehicle.  The Feuerwehr (fire dept.) arrived and went to work with their “jaws of life” tool and extricated everybody.

There were a total of nine people trapped altogether, including three children.  The driver of the police car had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital where he died the next day.  The 59-yr.-old truck driver is still in the hospital with serious injuries and is facing charges for negligent homicide.

A fire dept. photographer has posted about a dozen more photos of the incident on Flickr HERE.
The Hannover Neue Presse has the STORY.

IN MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY, TWO BUSES TRAVELING ON ROUTE 80 collided at speed at 10 am Friday morning.  One of the buses, a tour bus carrying Chinese tourists to Niagara Falls, went through the guardrail and landed on its side on an embankment leading to a roadway underpass.

WNYW

The other bus, also a charter carrier, came to rest against the opposite guardrail of the overpass.

WNYW

Initial reports say that injuries are relatively few, about 24, and not serious injuries or deaths occurred.  There was a total of 94 people on board the two buses.

WNYW-TV has the early REPORT.