Dania building partially collapses

Construction work nearby led to failure, officials say

DANIA BEACH – Willie Shorter was home taking a nap about 11 a.m. Thursday when a “big boom” rocked him awake.

Shorter soon learned that the southern wall of the two-story building where he lives at 21 N. Federal Highway collapsed. Next came a knock on the door from a construction worker telling him to get out right away.

“Everybody got out,” Shorter said. “There’s six of us.”

The collapse forced officials to close three blocks of Federal Highway in both directions just north of Dania Beach Boulevard.

Construction crews digging a trench to the south of the building were preparing the site for the construction of a Tru Hotel next door, Dania Beach Commissioner Marco Salvino said.

And that’s what caused the wall to collapse, according to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue officials.

The building, constructed in 1926, has shops on the first floor and apartments above. No one inside was injured. Firefighters and a search-and-rescue dog did a thorough check of the inside and outside of the building and rescued a kitten from inside one of the apartments.

British tourist Kerry Haig and his wife,

MIKE STOCKER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER A crew from Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue uses a ladder truck to inspect a building after a wall collapsed. There were no injuries.