Firefighters stll having trouble getting to victim in parking deck collapse

ONLY ON CLIFFVIEW PILOT: Expert rescue workers are erecting a special box that will alow them to get to a woman trapped in the rubble of a parking deck collapse in Hackensack, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned. “I wouldn’t go on a limb and say it’s a fatality,” a ranking official told the web site, after firefighters using special sensory equipment located her this afternoon. “She could be having trouble breathing, and the sensors might not be picking it up.”

Jerry DeMarco

07/16/2010 4:55 p.m.

FOR THE COMPLETE UPDATE, GO TO:
Rescue workers getting to woman trapped in car in parking deck collapse

Police have closed off the area around the familiar 18-story Prospect Towers at 300 Prospect Avenue and evacuated both buildings.

They believe at least two people may be trapped under the rubble, although they said they can see only one.

The collapse of at least two floors of the garage was reported around 10 a.m.

Apparently the front metal and glass canopy covering the driveway and entrance pulled away from the building, fell two stories and hit the garage’s top deck, pancaking it into the level below. Although it’s speculation, fire officials said rumblings from extensive construction in the area — just around the corner from Hasckensack University Medical Center — could have contributed to the collapse.

Members of the New Jersey State Police Urban Search & Rescue Unit and the Bergen County Canine Units were on the scene almost immediately, local police dispatches show. City officials have told reporters it will take some time to secure the structure and protect it from another collapse, which could easily be caused by nearby traffic.

For that reason, they said, they’re moving cautiously to get to the victim they can see — although their measured, deliberate pace would seem to indicate that the result, sadly, won’t be positive.

They didn’t say anything about the potential effect of huge corporate jets that constantly buzz the Prospect Avenue buildings on their way to and from Teterboro Airport, or whether they believe a recent earthquake centered in Canada may have shaken some canopy connections loose.

A huge task lies ahead for relocating all of the complex’s residents, as well as any neighbors whom authorities fear might be in danger, should another collapse occur.

Keep checking back for more….

ALERT: Anyone who saw what happened, who lives nearby or who took photos, please contact me immediately at GerardJDeMarco@gmail.com. Thank you.

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