With Snow Still Weighing Down, CFD Responds To Three Collapses At Structures Around Chicago In One Night
CHICAGO (CBS) -- As the snow keeps falling and collecting on rooftops, it is creating more dangers as roofs, tents, and other overhead structures collapse.
On Thursday evening alone, there were at least three emergencies.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, the garage and building collapses kept the Chicago Fire Department busy from the South Side to the North on Thursday night.
It has been this way for most of the week, and the Fire Department expects more collapses as long as the snow sticks around.
"I was very lucky," said Victor Moore.
Moore was trapped inside his car under the heavy load of the roof of his garage in the 2500 block of East 96th Street in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood. The garage roof was no match for the built-up snow.
Moore tried to get his car out from the under the collapsed roof.
"So I went inside and some of it had collapsed on the car, but I felt that I could pull the car out," he said "and when I pulled the car out, more of the roof collapsed."
Moore was trapped.
"It stopped me right between the doors and I couldn't get out either way, so I was stuck inside the car," he said.
Moore finally called the Fire Department after two hours.
"When the Fire Department came, he said, 'You can do it,'" he said. "I was able to come out feet-first and pull myself out, and the fireman helped me the rest of the way."
Meanwhile at the other end of the city, the snow brought down a tent outside the Arbour Health Care Center nursing home at 1512 W. Fargo Ave. in the Rogers Park neighborhood. Two people were crushed underneath, and one person was hurt.
The sitting snow was also to blame for a garage collapse near Irving Park Road and Sawyer Avenue in the Irving Park neighborhood. About two feet of snow led the roof of the garage to give out, and nearby power lines came down with it.
Nobody was in the garage at the time and nobody was injured.
Building owner Eduardo Flexas pulled the cars from the garage earlier on Thursday, when he noticed a bend in the roof.
"About 20 minutes ago, it just collapsed, completely, from the weight of the snow," Flexas said.
This all adds on to what is already a growing list of similar collapses since the heavy snowfall Monday.
As for Moore, he said he wasn't scared. His head was somewhere else.
"I was thinking about the cost of everything. I was thinking the cost to repair my car, the cost of fixing the garage," he said. "I know it probably wasn't the smartest thing in the world."
Moore wasn't injured in all of this. He said before calling 911, he called a tow truck - but the tow truck never came.
After some friends told him it was time to call the Fire Department, he finally picked up his phone and did so.