PARMA, Ohio — The Parma Fire Department shared a series of videos and pictures of a partial collapse that happened at a parking deck overnight.
Authorities responded to the scene around 11:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 5800 block of Laurent Drive amid a report of the structural collapse.
“The collapse left two vehicles precariously in the hole created by the collapse,” Parma officials said Wednesday morning. “Further inspection and investigation found that one additional vehicle in the parking garage area was impacted by the debris from the collapse zone.”
One of those vehicles belongs to resident Nicholas Schultz, who was the first resident in the Regency apartment complex to call 911 Tuesday night. He lives in building C, closest to the collapse.
“As of now, it’s unrecoverable, and we need to figure out a way to get it since all four wheels are just suspended," he said of his car, hanging over the hole in the parking lot.
Schultz said he's grateful everyone is ok, noting that people had just gotten out of the car next to his when the collapse happened.
“The only thing that’s holding up those two cars – along these lines are two steel girders, they go throughout the parking lot," said Martin. "In between those girders are poured cement covered by blacktop. There was a failure in some structural component within that section that caused it to collapse.”
Martin said at this point, the building and engineering departments, in addition to the fire prevention bureau, are looking to determine the cause of the failure. However, he did say at this time, there was no wrongdoing on the part of the apartment building.
"Anytime you have structural components that are made of metal or concrete, combined with water and our seasonal changes with the heat, the freeze/thaw cycles, something could happen," Martin said. "Sometimes it’s a matter of time, sometimes nothing will ever happen. It’s just the luck of the draw unfortunately.”
Martin also noted that the structural footprints and foundations for the apartment building and garage are separate, and assured the building is safe at this time.
Zana Salters lives in building D, and said she was at work when she received a call from her daughter letting her know the fire alarms were going off and that she saw emergency vehicles out of her window. The parking lot where the collapse happened is between buildings C and D at the Regency complex.
"It was scary at first because I didn't know what to tell her," Salters said.
Two of the videos (watch below) show water gushing into the parking deck where the collapse took place. From above the collapse, photos show a vehicle straddling the hole left behind.
All vehicles were removed from the immediate area “to alleviate and remove impact and dead loads from the structure.”
No injuries were reported.
"We were very fortunate that this incident did not result in any loss of life or injury,” Fire Chief Michael Lasky said. “One of the residents whose vehicle was impacted had only recently returned to his residence where seconds later the parking deck collapsed."
The Parma Fire Department is working with building officials and engineers and the property owner. 3News reached out to the property management company and did not hear back.
Multiple crews responded to the scene.
No additional details were immediately available, but stay with 3News as we will update this story if more information is released.
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Editor's note: Video in the player above was originally published in an unrelated story on April 28, 2022.
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