It’s a scene straight off a Hollywood stunt lot: In the middle of a sunny January afternoon, a building comes down like an avalanche as pedestrians scuttle through a crosswalk.
Chunks of brick and pieces of debris scatter from the collapsing facade onto the sidewalk and into the street. And then, as if right on time, a fire engine rolls up.
That was precisely the picture on Wednesday afternoon in D.C.’s Trinidad neighborhood when a building at the intersection of Florida Avenue and Staples Street came tumbling down.
D.C. resident Andy Feliciotti said he was working at home when he heard a crash and looked out his window. His security camera picked up footage of the collapse.
Well this is kind of crazy, my security camera picked up a building randomly collapsing today.
The people on the street were walking on the spot 10 seconds earlier! Luckily no one was hurt I don't think.@PoPville @nbcwashington @fox5dc @wamu885 pic.twitter.com/ViyklfWE4V
— Andy Feliciotti 🔥 (@sup) January 15, 2020
Vito Maggiolo, a spokesperson for D.C. Fire and EMS, confirmed the fire engine in the video was on its way back from a call around 1:35 p.m. when the building at 1102 Staples Street NE, which was under renovation, collapsed in front of it. One person was treated for a minor injury as a result of flying debris.
Emergency personnel and the District’s Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs were called to the scene, where they were able to eliminate any immediate threat to the adjacent structures.
The building, however, remains unstable, Maggiolo said.
WAMU has reached out to the property’s developer and Capital Fringe, which neighbors the collapsed building, for comment.
This story originally appeared on WAMU.
Alexander McCall