23-Year-Old Worker Feared Dead In Collapsed Stairwell Of Garage

CLEARWATER, FL — Delays due to strong winds temporarily put recovery efforts on hold but constructions crews have brought in heavy equipment and are proceeding to dismantle the stairwell of a four-story garage that collapsed Monday.

A 23-year-old construction worker who was trapped beneath the concrete rubble is presumed dead, according to Clearwater Fire Division Chief John Klinefelter. His name has not been released but Klinefelter said his family has been at the scene as a private contractor continued to remove debris using construction equipment.

For safety reasons, Klinefelter said the contractor is dismantling the stairwell from the top down. Investigators from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are on scene.

The city's Planning and Development Department is researching the permitting and construction history of the parking garage to determine the reasons for the collapse.

Cleawater Fire & Rescue Department crews, along with the Clearwater Police Department and other fire departments from across Pinellas County, were called at 12:35 p.m. Monday to the parking garage next to the Tampa Bay Water administrative offices at 2575 Enterprise Road, just off Countryside Boulevard.

Construction workers were conducting some stairwell repairs when the second and third levels of the stairway collapsed, trapping one worker in debris. Two other workers were able to get out of the garage uninjured.

Klinefelter said the likelihood that the trapped worker survived is bleak. "We do believe at this point that it is a recovery operation," he said.

He said structural engineers were brought in on Monday to assess the building and said it wasn't safe for rescue workers to enter the garage until the upper portions of the stairwell were removed.