GLENDALE- Progress continues at Bayshore Mall after part of the Silver Spring parking structure collapsed Thursday. North Shore Fire Department Assistant Chief Daniel Tyk confirmed Saturday that no injuries were sustained as a result of the collapse.
“We can say with confidence today that there were no injuries related to this incident,” Tyk said, “..which we are very grateful for.”
Tyk said that operations have been transferred from the department back to Bayshore management, who will now determine how to remove vehicles from the structure. Several vehicles of shoppers and employees of the mall and other surrounding businesses remain on the third and fourth floors of the structure.
While Tyk believes the structure is not in danger of further collapse, the department still asks people to stay away from the building. Additionally, Tyk says to contact Bayshore’s security team if your vehicle is stranded. “Give the information (for your car) so that the plans can be communicated with you when they are implemented to get your vehicle out or your possessions.”
Tyk said he’s surprised at how quickly the process is moving. “We initially thought it would be weeks or months (to remove the cars) and to say that potentially within 96 hours of this people are driving their cars out, we are very pleased,” Tyk told reporters, repeatedly asking for patience from the public. Vehicles may be able to be removed as soon as Tuesday.
It’s hard to say for certain because we don’t know the size of the pile before the structure collapsed. North Shore Fire Chief Robert Whitaker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal the size of the pile after it collapsed was approximately 36-feet-by-20-feet in area and about 8 feet high at ground level. The estimated weight of the snow pile is between 19 and 50 tons. The garage, which was built in 2006, was built to withstand between 18 and 20 tons.
This isn’t the first time a part of a parking structure has collapsed in Milwaukee. A slab of concrete fell from a parking garage in June 2010, killing 15-year-old Jared Kellner and injuring two other people. A jury in Milwaukee County court later ruled that the insurance company for the firm that installed the panel owed $39 million in connection with the incident.
