Report Number: 05-0000213
Report Date: 05/27/2005
Event Description
Our engine and squad company were dispatched to an mva in which a car went over a 30 foot high masonry wall and crashed into an apartment building. The car was precariously perched with the rear of the car in the air against the wall. We pulled the car off the wall using the winch cable on the squad. The wall seemed stable, but as we were continuing to pull the car out of the tight space between the building and the wall, the 30 foot high brick veneer fell away from the concrete block wall. An ambulance medic standing nearby screamed to us to "watch out" as it fell. We dove for cover as tons and tons of brick hit our legs and flattened the rear of the car. Three members of my crew and I were fully bunkered, but we would have been killed or seriously injured if we had not received the quick warning from the ambulance medic. The only injuries that we sustained were some minor scrapes and bruises and a sprained knee. We discovered that this massive wall was originally improperly constructed approximately 25 years ago. The wall was constucted of concrete block with a brick veneer that was not attached to the concrete block with "brick ties" as the wall was being constructed. We spent the rest of the night tearing off any remaining brick portions to prevent a secondary collapse.
Lesson Learned
The lesson learned was to always be aware of your surroundings. It was difficult to recognize the hazard because we were under the assumption that the wall was properly constructed under the current code guidelines. Another lesson learned was that we should always be extremely aware of " collapse zones".
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