In the early morning hours Thursday, immediately after Champlain Towers South collapsed, fire rescue workers heard reports of a woman alive trapped in a lower level that was now inside the garage.

One rescue worker who asked to remain anonymous tells Local 10 News: “Everybody that was there, that’s what we’re trying to do, get this lady out and comfort her. ... She was asking for help and she was pleading to be taken out of there.

“We were continuously talking to her. ... ‘Honey, we got you. We’re going to get to you.’”

But a photo he shared showed what stood in their way: A dumpster, metal rebar, and a wall of concrete.

The rescue worker says he and others first on the scene rushed into that debris before anyone even knew if the building was safe, pausing only to send a quick text to his children: “Love you guys, always.”

He says he was never able to see the woman trapped inside.

“The first thing I remember is thumping on the wall and then I remember her just talking, ‘I’m here, get me out. Get me out,’” he says.

He says crews never abandoned their effort — but he later learned the woman didn’t make it.

Local 10 News also learned of an email sent by a supervisor worried about the effects of this loss on his crews, saying they were “involved with an active conversation with the female trapped next to the bed about 10 to 11 hours after the collapse. … She was aware her parents were also trapped next to her.”

The email says a fire that broke out forced crews to move back “as we know she passed.” Chiefs on scene reported, “They saw the wind knocked out of our guys…”

  • SorosFootSoldier [he/him, they/them]
    ·
    3 years ago

    China simply acknowledging that a building collapsed in the USA proves that the CPC is beyond evil and we need to liberate the country and introduce them to the free market ASAP.

    • TheCaconym [any]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Given a person can survive without water for an average of three days, that's pretty heartbreaking. Here's to hoping a few people down there are next to burst up water pipes at least.

      • happybadger [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Temperatures in the mid-80s all week, fires burning under them. I can only imagine how hellish conditions are in the rubble.

  • comi [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Is it like not super big scandal over there?

    • SorosFootSoldier [he/him, they/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      Slow news cycle so this is getting a lot of attention. Eventually people will get bored with it, some buildings in the area will be brought up to code. Then everyone will roll back over to sleep and let ruthless laissez faire capitalism take charge again.

      • Awoo [she/her]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        some buildings in the area will be brought up to code

        You believe that?

        Nothing in the UK has changed since Grenfell tower burned to the ground. And we actually had a news cycle with nothing but Grenfell Grenfell Grenfell for a few months.

        There has been nothing learned, no legislation written to prevent it happening again, and buildings like Grenfell with exactly the same cladding are all exactly as they were when Grenfell burned.

        It will happen again. Nothing has changed.

        • happybadger [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          It will happen again because infrastructure in general is crumbling, but in one of the /r/catastrophicfailure threads about the collapse someone mentioned that Miami-Dade County actually sets a lot of national standards for building codes. The 40 year inspection cycle was the result of another building collapse in Miami back in the 1970s and that prompted them to take codes seriously. This particular tower was in the process of accepting bids for its 40 year inspection and beyond landlords being landlords the blame really belongs with the engineering firm that did the 2018 inspection. It was sloppily conducted and didn't take the structural damage seriously enough.

          • Awoo [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            So... They'll blame it on someone 40 years ago, which inevitably won't result in anything happening to anyone responsible due to length of time since it happened.

            And they'll update some things and the next one will be blamed on someone 40 years ago and nothing will happen.

            And it'll happen again.

            The buildings need inspection cycles that are short enough that the inspectors will be held responsible for getting it wrong. How can anyone be expected to take this responsibility as seriously as it needs to be taken if they won't be held responsible when found out?

          • Awoo [she/her]
            ·
            3 years ago

            I was just going off of what CNN was saying

            There's your problem.

              • Awoo [she/her]
                ·
                3 years ago

                I don't think you need to trust them or not trust them on this. Every outlet does the same shit when this happens, optimistically claims [common sense thing] will happen and then acts surprised when it does not happen.

                They're staffed by liberals that still believe the system operates rationally and logically for the good of the people.

      • NaturalsNotInIt [any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Lmfao, it's not 1996 anymore. Nothing will be "brought up to code", it will be grandfathered in.

    • coeliacmccarthy [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      3 years ago

      it's in the news but there wasn't and isn't much alarm or emphasis or reporting on specific traumatic details as we are more typically accustomed to. As for scandal, who even knows what a scandal is any more. Everything is a scandal for one party of other and as of late "scandal" doesn't actually lead to any outcome beyond more scandal