Rescue workers getting to woman trapped in car in parking deck collapse

Rescue worker erected a special box that has allowed them to dig, one shovelful at a time, toward what they thought was a woman trapped in the rubble of a parking deck collapse in Hackensack, in an effort that been expected to last through the night, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned. As it turned out, no one was inside, despite speculation there may have been a second person trapped one level below.

Jerry DeMarco

07/16/2010 11:24 p.m.

300 Prospect Avenue

Rescue workers proceeded cautiously — deliberately not using mechanical equipment — to minimize risk and prevent further damage.

“If it’s possible to say anything good about something like this, it’s that, from everything we learned from 911, we know how to dig and get in there safely instead of rooting around,” said a high-ranking official at the scene, who spoke to CLIFFVIEW PILOT on condition of anonmity.

Police closed off the area around the familiar 18-story Prospect Towers at 300 Prospect Avenue. After evacuating both buildings, and some others on the block, they allowed some residents to go in and retrieve medications, pets and other essentials.

Meanwhile, a special unit erected a 2-foot-by-6-foot box “so the guys can crawl in without being crushed,” the official told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Surveillance footage from security cameras showed another car may have been trying to leave the structure when 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, around 10 a.m.

Emergency personnel said they don’t know whether whoever was in the vehicle got out.

Although it’s speculation, fire officials said rumblings from extensive construction in the area — just around the corner from Hackensack University Medical Center — could have contributed to the collapse.

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 lay 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.

But that was only after workers from a host of agencies completed their work. Several workers and officers suffered heat exhaustion Friday. The Red Cross was on hand to supply water, food other necessities.

One positive aspect in all of this, the official told CLIFFVIEW PILOT, is that only part of the exterior of the garage collapsed. This gives officials hope that the building is structurally sound.

“Eighty percent of the actual garage is under the building,” he said.

The rescue effort involved digging by hand, which could take all night, the official said.

“We’re hoping it doesn’t rain,” he told CLIFFVIEW PILOT late Friday.

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