Chicago Fire Dept. engine removed from partially collapsed parking garage in South Shore
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Chicago Fire Department became stuck after part of a parking garage collapsed underneath it in the South Shore neighborhood Tuesday morning.
The engine was parked on top of the two-story garage around 10:40 a.m. when part of the garage collapsed underneath the engine onto the bottom level. The front bumper of the fire engine was resting on a section of the garage that had not collapsed.
"They moved out of the way today to let a lady pass by that was in a private auto, and when they were backing up that's when the collapse occurred," said CFD Chief of Special Operations Tim Walsh.
A crane arrived about 5 p.m. to assist with removing the engine. Crews were able to remove the engine from the parking garage around 6 p.m. Engine 126 will drive to a shop for repairs, CFD said in a tweet.
"Engine 126 is here quite frequently, this is their still area, they parked in the usual spot, where they always park to let the ambulance back up to the doors," Walsh said.
RAW VIDEO: Parking structure collapses underneath Chicago fire truck
The fire department was responding to a call at the Symphony of South Shore nursing home next to the garage when the collapse happened. Workers inside the nursing home said it sounded and felt like an earthquake.
"We heard a big boom and we didn't know what it was, we checked around our facility to make sure it wasn't in the inside, we thought it was coming from the roof," said Tamika Wilson, who works at Symphony of South Shore.
"The engineer was able to crawl out rear door and call for help, the rest of the company was inside taking care of a medical patient," Walsh said.
The engineer was taken to a hospital for delayed back pain from the collapse, Walsh said. No other injures were reported.
Fire officials emptied the truck of 500 gallons of water to lighten the load.
No cars on the top or lower level appeared to be damaged and no one was trapped beneath it, authorities said.
