LA
CROSSE (WXOW) – The second floor of a building collapsed
Saturday night during a gathering of approximately 50 people, according
to the La Crosse Fire Department.
Around 11 p.m., firefighters got the call that part of the second floor of 135 S. 6th Street collapsed.
Three people were hospitalized.
By the time fire crews arrived, everyone was out
of the two-floor building, said La Crosse Fire Department Division Chief
Mark Amann.
"As a shift commander my job is to make sure we
have enough resources here to handle our problem. And on the way over
here, you're just hearing the radio traffic. And after a quick 360 lap
around the building and taking a quick look at what we had, I knew we
had enough resources here to handle the problem," Amann said.
Crews smelled an odor of natural gas at the back of the building, according to Amann. They shut off the gas valve and power.
Following an inspection early Sunday morning, the city building inspector condemned the structure.
Amann said he's never seen anything like this.
"This is kind of an odd case we're still investigating," he said.
The building's first floor is made up of three
commercial spaces. On the second floor there's one apartment toward the
front of the building. In the back, there's a 30 by 30 foot room. That's
the room that collapsed, according to owner Nathan Brooks, of River
City Rental.
"I was just hoping everybody was okay. I was
hoping there wasn't any deaths or major injuries... And you know, just
frustrated," Brooks said.
Crystal McDaniel was listening to her radio when she heard yelling and shouting that over-powered her music.
"There were people just scattering, running
everywhere, people crying, girls were on their phones," said McDaniel
who lived across the street.
She went outside to see what the commotion was.
"We had people running though our backyard,"
McDaniel said. "They were running down that way, down this way. They
were scattering everywhere."
