‘Deep’ fire slows Fla. rescue effort
Engineer’s ’18 report raised concerns for now-fallen building
SURFSIDE, Fla. — Fire and smoke coming from deep inside the concrete and metal remains of a collapsed 12-story condominium tower near Miami hampered rescue efforts Saturday as emergency workers raced to recover any survivors beneath the mountain of rubble.
Rescuers used infrared technology, water and foam to battle the blaze, whose source was unclear, and Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said the smoke has been the biggest challenge.
In a news conference, she described the blaze as “very deep” and said rescuers faced “incredible difficulties” because of the flames.
A fire hose blasted one of the lower floors on the north side of the tower as white smoke or steam streamed out, and a bitter, sulfurlike smell hung in the air.
A crane removed pieces of debris from the more than 30-foot pile in the city of Surfside, and scores of rescuers used big machines, small buckets, drones, microphones and their own hands to pick through the rubble.
Among those anxiously awaiting word of missing loved ones was Rachel Spiegel, whose mother, 66-year-old Judy Spiegel, lived on the sixth floor. Speaking alongside her siblings, she said Saturday that “we’re trying to hold it together.”
“I know my mom is a fighter. I know she loves us. I know she doesn’t want to give up. So, you
know, it’s day three, so it’s hard,” Spiegel said.
Levine Cava announced Saturday evening that rescue crews found a fifth body and the identification of three bodies had dropped the number of unaccounted for down to 156. She said crews also discovered other unspecified human remains.
“My heart is with the community of Surfside as they grieve their lost loved ones and wait anxiously as search and rescue efforts continue,” President Joe Biden tweeted.
Authorities said they were beginning an audit of buildings nearing their 40-year review — like the fallen Champlain Towers South — to make sure they’re safe. The mayor asked other cities in the county to join the building review and said there will be state and federal funding to help.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials have joined local and state authorities at the site, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. He added that a nearby “sister building” of the collapsed tower is also being looked at because it was built at the same time and with the same designer.
Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett said he was working on a plan to temporarily relocate residents of the Champlain Towers North, which was constructed the same year and sits about 100 yards away from the collapsed building.
Burkett added that he was also trying to arrange an emergency inspection and until that happens, he can’t tell residents whether they’re safe in their homes.
“I know that the identical building collapsed for an inexplicable reason,” Burkett said. “Buildings in the United States do not just fall down . ... Something very, very wrong was going on at that building, and we need to find out.”
The mayor said he didn’t plan to order residents to evacuate, but if he lived there, “I’d be gone.”
Surfside city staffers were also gathering details about a third building, Champlain Towers East, which appears to have been constructed at a different time.
Three years before Thursday’s collapse, a consultant found alarming evidence of “major structural damage” to the concrete slab below the pool deck and “abundant” cracking and crumbling of the columns, beams and walls of the parking garage under the building.
The engineer’s report helped shape plans for a multimillion-dollar repair project that was set to get underway soon — more than 2 ½ years after building managers were warned.
The complex’s management association disclosed some of the problems in the wake of the collapse, but it was not until city officials released the 2018 report late Friday that the full nature of the concrete and reinforcing bar damage, most of it probably caused by persistent water leaks and years of exposure to the corrosive salt air along the South Florida coast, became apparent.
“Though some of this damage is minor, most of the concrete deterioration needs to be repaired in a timely fashion,” the consultant, Frank Morabito, wrote about damage near the base of the structure as part of his October 2018 report on the building that was built in 1981. He gave no indication that the structure was at risk of collapse, although he noted that the needed repairs would be aimed at “maintaining the structural integrity” of the building and its 136 units.
Emails show the secretary of the condo association forwarded the report to an official in the town’s building department on Nov. 13, 2018. The town did not disclose any further correspondence related to the report.
Israel said it was sending a team of engineering and rescue specialists to assist in the search. Israeli media have reported that some 20 citizens of that country were believed to be among the missing.
“Buildings in the United States do not just fall down . ... Something very, very wrong was going on at that building, and we need to find out.” — Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett