'It Sounded Like A Huge Snowplow:' Neighbors Recall Sights And Sounds From Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse
By: Patrick Damp/KDKA-TV
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It was a stunning scene in Point Breeze on Friday morning as a bridge on Forbes Avenue running over Frick Park collapsed.
Just before 7:00 a.m., the bridge failed while a Port Authority bus and several cars passed over it.
"It sounded like a huge snowplow, pushing along a raw tarmac surface with no snow," neighbor Wendy Stroh said. "I just kept hearing this loud noise persistently coming from the front corner of my apartment."
WATCH: Residents React, Recall Moments During Bridge Collapse
For John Danzek, it was an interruption of his morning routine.
"About 6:35-6:40, I heard this loud boom, and then a woosh like a plane was going over my house," Danzek recalled. "There are frequent traffic accidents on this street, so I thought it might be something, but the woosh concerned me."
It was then he was worried it might be a burst pipe, but that was not the case, a look out the window found that the bridge had collapsed.
"I couldn't believe that the bridge is gone, it's absolutely phenomenal to think of that," he said. "Literally the whole structure is just laying almost in place in the ravine."
While he isn't thankful for the collapse, he did say that the timing kept it from being a serious tragedy.
"This is a major north-south corridor, so folks cut here and go into Oakland in the morning, had this been maybe 20 or maybe 25 minutes later, you would've had school buses on there, you would've had full PAT buses on there, you'd have a lot of cars, and you would've had fatalities, so we're really lucky that this happened when it did," he said.
Danzek added that it's going to be a big blow to the neighborhood for several years to come.
"The good thing is that there are no fatalities and we're going to pray that there are no fatalities," Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said. "We were fortunate, a bus went over, and we had no fatalities. I want to thank the City of Pittsburgh, our EMS, our firefighters, our police, the county for their assistance, and the state for all coming together."
As of this morning, 10 injuries were reported and three of those people were taken to the hospital, but are in fair condition.