Vacant building's wall collapses in Milwaukee's Harbor District, prompting road closures
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A building wall collapsed Monday afternoon, Aug. 31, in Milwaukee's Harbor District, prompting road closures near Bruce and Water Street.
The collapse happened on the southern part of the National Warehouse Corporation building, leaving a large hole exposing three dilapidated floors.
The Milwaukee Fire Department responded around 12:18 p.m. Monday, along with their Heavy Urban Rescue Team, to assess the collapse.
According to Assistant Chief Schuyler Belott, officials believe the building was vacant, unused, and unoccupied when the exterior wall collapsed; however, the office building connected to the east side of the building was occupied. The fire department evacuated those employees safely.
The fire department determined it isn't safe for anyone, including their crews, to enter the structure that partially collapsed, so they secured a perimeter around the building. The fire department believes further collapse is possible.
"At this point, we're not letting anybody near the building. We're working with We Energies now for the utilities around the building," Belott explained. "We obviously want to secure that in the event the building does come down, but we want to do that safely. So, we're not even going to allow them to be up to the building to hit meters. We'll have to look at securing utilities from further distances away."
The Milwaukee Fire Department hasn't determined an exact cause of the collapse at this time, but Belott said it could be due to the building's deteriorating condition.
An employee of Center Pointe Marine company said he saw and heard the collapse happen and thought the entire building would fall at the time.
"It was like a couple of pieces of rock was coming down, and then next thing you know, you see where that big hole is right there? That whole thing just collapsed," said the witness, Patrick Davis. "It scared me, man. I was like, what the hell?"
According to online records from the City of Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services, condemnation and raze orders for the property were filed Monday.
The Milwaukee Fire Department is working directly with the Department of Neighborhood Services to determine the next steps.