COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A building in Columbus, Ohio, partially collapsed Monday afternoon while a firefighter was inside inspecting it.
No injuries were reported in the collapse, including to the firefighter.
A business that operated on the ground floor, at 1032 E. Long St., was closed Monday. The owner of the business lived in a different part of the building, but was not inside when it happened, fire officials said.
Photos and video showed the collapse started along the back wall before a corner of the structure gave way.
Columbus fire and police had multiple units on the scene during and after the collapse.
Chief Jeffrey Geitter of the Columbus Division of Fire said a building inspector was checking another building nearby when he noticed a section of the back wall had given way and called firefighters.
Geitter said the firefighters were checking the building to make sure no one was inside when the collapse occurred, with a back corner falling in on itself. At least two bystanders were recording as it happened. In one of the videos, a firefighter was seen at a window just moments earlier.
“We were lucky that none of our crews were injured,” Geitter said.
The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined.
A Google Maps photo of the building from 2019 showed all of the windows on the collapsed section were boarded up.
Geitter said an emergency demolition order will be secured to tear down the rest of the structure.
