Worker Surprised After Garage Collapse: 'I Thought I Was Going To Lose My Truck'
IRVING, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Becky Welch still can't believe her white pickup truck clung to the concrete and barely survived the second collapse of an Irving parking garage.
After watching the second collapse Tuesday and seeing her truck still standing, she said, "Oh my God."
Welch laughed Wednesday, "Okay, yes, it was a little surprising. I thought I was going to lose my truck."
The Irving Fire Department said Wednesday, the garage remains unsafe and the property owner surrounded the garage with fencing and hired a security firm to keep people from going into the structure.
The fire department said Tuesday the garage may have suffered what's called a spontaneous collapse, possibly because the ground may have shifted.
While Welch's truck is still in one piece, she says Irving firefighters told her Tuesday night they didn't expect the garage column underneath her truck to hold, but obviously it has.
Structural engineers hired by the property owner inspected the garage Wednesday.
The fire department says the property owner will have to decide whether to tear down the garage or reconstruct it, and also determine when it'll be safe to remove the vehicles.
Welch said, "I don't know, I know it's dangerous to go out there and try to recover the truck and the other vehicles still on top and I can't expect them to risk somebody's life to take that truck. It's not worth it, definitely."
Authorities kept everyone out after a second collapse at the garage.
But beforehand, officials allowed some owners to get their vehicles, but not Welch. "Mine was in the red zone, so they wouldn't let me get it out."
Welch praises the property owner for working with vehicle owners and paying for their rental cars.
"I'm just in limbo with the truck no damaged or anything. I can't turn it into my insurance company so it's just a waiting game at this point."
