Four Rescued After Building Collapses In Creighton

Four people were rescued Tuesday night via a tele-handler after a Creighton apartment building partially collapsed.

Creighton Fire Chief Kevin Sonnichsen said the north wall of the building, which most recently was Mimi's Boutique and previously Salmen Hardware & Furniture Store, came down just before 10:30 p.m.

City Councilman Drew Nelson called Sonnichsen, who said he also received a call from one of the tenants. There were two people in each apartment and all four were rescued via a tele-handler from a local construction company.

"Everybody is out safe. A rescue is better than a recovery," Sonnichsen said. "We don't drill for this kind of stuff. It's still crumbling and right now unsafe for occupants to get their belongings." 

Sonnichsen said a mother and her 3-year-old child were in one apartment while a couple in their 20s live in the other apartment, which are both on the second story of the building located at 802 Main Street.

“When the north side came down, she (the mother) heard it and walked across the kitchen floor. She said it was spongy and sloping real bad,” Sonnichsen said.

​Sonnichsen said the structure dated back to 1880s and that the mortar around the bricks came loose and fells straight down and took out a power line as it landed on a gas meter. He said the power company had to dig out he power line in the alley “and pinch it off.”

The street is currently blocked off due to the dangerous situation as bricks are still falling occasionally, Sonnichsen said. The occupants are not being allowed in the building to get any of their belongings.

Sonnichsem said the building is unsalvageable and will have be torn down immediately due to safety concerns.

“We’ll have to get a backhoe and take the whole building down,” he said. “We have to get it down sooner than later. We can’t have the street blocked off for a long time.”

---