Ship Watcher describes capturing entire Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse: 'Nobody wants to be famous for that'

BALTIMORE -- Everyone around the world has been able to see every second leading up to, and eventually, the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge because of a camera a local man helped set up.

The camera has been set up by Mike Singer to livestream ships coming in and out of the Port of Baltimore for years.

Crazy and surreal are the words he uses to describe the loss and tragedy surrounding the bridge's collapse.

He helped pick the view for a livestream company, which eventually set up the camera to start streaming 24/7.

That company still owns the camera.

"One day, I casually happened to mention [setting the camera up] to a friend, 'Hey, how would you like to have a camera mounted on the back of your house,'" Singer said. "No way that I ever think that we would catch the Key Bridge falling down. Nobody wants to be famous for that."

Singer spoke with WJZ on Tuesday morning as part of our breaking news coverage of the collapse. 

He first learned about what happened around 4 a.m. that day -- waking up to several notifications on his phone.

He didn't realize the severity of the situation until he checked the Baltimore & Chesapeake Bay Ship Watchers on Facebook, a group he founded.

"One of my admins in our Facebook group said the Key Bridge is down and I immediately grabbed my phone and typed, 'Oh God no,'" Singer said. "It's one thing to watch it live, it's another thing to go out on the shore and look at [the aftermath] with your own eyes."

The impact of the collapse has been sitting heavy with Singer. 

Crews continue to investigate and look for the bodies of the missing construction workers and the Port of Baltimore remains at a standstill.

His thoughts are with everyone that's been touched by this.

"[The bridge] is iconic for our city, it's been there for 50 years almost. For it to be gone, is just surreal. Your eyes see it, but your brain doesn't want to believe it," he said.

While the camera caught every moment of the Key Bridge's end, Singer said it'll catch every moment when it's rebuilt.