Part of mall parking garage collapses in suburban Milwaukee
Feb 23, 2023, 1:00 PM | Updated: 2:07 pm
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A section of a suburban Milwaukee shopping mall parking garage collapsed Thursday. Authorities said they don’t believe anyone was injured.
News outlets tweeted and broadcast footage showing a section of the top two floors of the three-story garage at Bayshore Mall in Glendale laying on the first floor buried beneath a 10-foot high mound of snow.
North Shore Fire/Rescue Chief Robert Whitaker told reporters during a question-and-answer session at the scene that he was “fairly confident” no one was hurt, but firefighters would continue to search the snow mound.
Whitaker said it appears snow had been piled on the third floor and the extra weight may have played a role in the collapse. The garage was built in 2005 and 2006, Glendale Mayor Bryan Kennedy told reporters.
The Milwaukee area has received about 23. 7 inches of snow since December, including 1.5 inches of wet sleet on Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.
“I don’t know why (the garage collapsed), but it appears snow would have some likely impact,” the chief said. “Piling snow on a property, especially if its elevated, probably not a good idea.”
A slab of concrete fell from a parking garage in Milwaukee in June 2010, killing 15-year-old Jared Kellner and injuring two other people. A Milwaukee County jury ruled four years later that the insurance company for the firm that installed the panel owed $39 million in connection with the incident.
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This story has been updated to correct the day in the first paragraph to Thursday, instead of Friday.
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