Construction Worker Survives After House In Oakland Collapses
OAKLAND (KPIX 5) -- A construction worker is lucky to be alive after the home he was working on collapsed in North Oakland Thursday morning.
A fire dispatcher told Bay City News Service that home at 854 46th St. collapsed sometime before the first call reporting the incident at 11:50 a.m.
Bubba Powell was still napping inside the home when it happened. "I was in there sleeping and the house came down," Powell told KPIX 5.
Powell was briefly trapped and found his way out, thanks to a hole held open by a television set. He was not seriously hurt.
Neighbors on the block know Powell well. He is homeless, but spends his days doing odd jobs and keeping the block clean. The owner of the home was letting him live at the home while it was being built to keep squatters out.
"I feel like I'm blessed and lucky," Powell said.
The collapse partially crushed one side of the home next door. That house has now been red-tagged.
Michael Davies, who lives next door, took KPIX 5 inside his home. It looked like an earthquake hit, with splintered walls and cracked windows. Davies said he noticed Thursday morning that his neighbor's home that the house next door was supported by some flimsy scaffolding.
"I was thinking to myself, I hope it don't fall on my house, just joking with myself," Davies told KPIX 5.
As for Powell, he says the entire block is his home. "This block feeds me. This block keeps me living," he said.
He wasn't kidding. Just moments later being interviewed, Powell received a gift of muffins from a neighbor.
Oakland firefighters confirmed Thursday night that the framing of the house had weakened and it's a total loss.
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