FIVE CONSTRUCTION
WORKERS INJURED AS WOODEN TRUSSES OF THE ROOF COLLAPSES IN YORK COUNTY, VIRGINIA
YORK— VIRGINIA
January 9, 2015
Five construction workers were injured Friday when a
commercial building they were working on collapsed in the Nelson’s Grant area
of York County.
Authorities said the workers’ injuries were not
life-threatening. One of the five, who had been trapped under debris, was flown
by the Nightingale Regional Air Ambulance to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital.
York County Fire and Life Safety personnel and the
technical rescue team stabilized wooden trusses that had fallen before pulling
the injured workers out of the debris, said Assistant Fire Chief Paul Long with
York County Fire and Rescue.
Long said he could not say why the wooden trusses fell,
which caused a partial roof collapse. A representative from the federal
Occupational Safety and Health Administration was on the scene to gather information
and investigate what caused the building collapse, Long said.
Nelson's Grant is a new development under construction
along Route 17 near the intersection with Fort Eustis Boulevard.
Dave Newcomb, owner of Construction Services of
Tidewater, the contractor on the commercial building, said the wooden trusses
collapsed because of the wind.
“This has never happened before,” Newcomb said. “They
didn't do anything wrong. They were following all the rules. It looked fine. I
have been doing this for 35 years.”
His construction crew had set the trusses and braced or
nailed down some of the trusses Friday before lunch, he said. They continued
bracing the trusses after lunch and while three workers were harnessed in the
trusses the trusses collapsed, Newcomb said. One of the three became trapped
and the crew cut the trusses loose from him. They waited until emergency
personnel arrived to move him, Newcomb said.
Four people were working on the ground when the roof
collapsed.
Newcomb said Friday evening that the man who had been
trapped appeared to have several broken bones and would remain in Sentara
Norfolk General Hospital for a while. The four others who were injured were
sent to another hospital, he said. Only three of the four were still in the
hospital by Friday evening, he said.
The 4,000- to 5,000-square-foot building that collapsed
-- which is to become a restaurant -- is next to a Subway building that
Newcomb's company also built, he said. Directly behind the collapsed building
are under-construction townhomes.
Newcomb said the OSHA representative asked him to wait
until he finished investigating to clear up the site. Newcomb said he hoped to
be able to get back to work as soon as the OSHA representative was finished.
Roughly one ladder truck, three fire engine trucks, four
ambulances, one helicopter and several other vehicles responded to the
incident, which occurred shortly before 2 p.m. Friday. About 25 personnel
responded to the incident, Long said.