Parking garage collapses at Milwaukee apartment building
Part of the ground level parking garage of an eight-story apartment building on Milwaukee’s east side collapsed Jan. 7, sending a vehicle into the basement.
Milwaukee Deputy Fire Chief Ronald Firnrohr said the fire department responded to the Empire Building, 1041 E. Knapp St., around 6 p.m.
Jon Lee, 43, was inside his vehicle just as he was about to pull out of the structure when it collapsed.
“Just as I backed up, I heard some crackling noise,” Lee said. “I thought I ran something over.”
Lee said he got out of his vehicle to inspect but didn’t see anything unusual, so he got back into his car.
“I hop back in, put it in reverse, moved about 2 feet and heard more crackling,” Lee said. “So I put it in park, and that’s when the whole ground just collapsed.”
Lee said he didn’t report any injuries to authorities. “I was the only one that was inside the garage at the time,” he said. Firnrohr said no injuries were reported.
Cause of the collapse remains unclear
Milwaukee’s Department of Neighborhood Services ordered Katz Properties, which owns the building, to obtain an engineer’s report and restrict all non-worker access to the garage. The agency called the collapse a “structural failure of the flooring,” but would not speculate further without an engineer’s assessment.
Katz Properties did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident.
However, the Department of Neighborhood Services said the collapse had broader effects on the property. When the floor gave out, it broke a pipe that was part of the building’s heating system, which caused all the units in the building to temporarily lose heat.
Emergency repairs restored heat to the building by about 1: 30 a.m. Jan. 8.
Two cars had to be towed out of the collapsed floor.
Size of the collapse is equal to 2 small SUVs, officials said
Marisa Nash, 28, was inside her apartment when a garage in the building next door collapsed.
“It was a super loud noise,” she said. “I heard a lot of people yelling afterwards, so I wasn’t sure if they were trying to help someone.”
Firnrohr said the size of the collapse is equal to two small SUVs, which fell through the floor. He said as of around 7:15 p.m. Jan. 7 it appeared work on pouring a new floor was about to begin.
Apartments are above the parking garage. A Department of Neighborhood Services spokesperson said residents were allowed to stay because the collapse was isolated to the garage floor and did not affect the overall building structure.
Firnrohr said officials are still investigating whether a danger exists to residents.
“None of this stuff moves quickly,” he said.
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