Above: Watch videos from two bystanders who witnessed the building collapse.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A building on the East Side partially collapsed Monday while at least one firefighter was inside inspecting it.
No injuries were reported in the collapse, including to the firefighter. A business that operated on the ground floor, at 1032 E. Long St. in Columbus’ King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood, was closed Monday.
Chief Jeffrey Geitter of the Columbus Division of Fire said a building inspector was checking another building nearby when he noticed a section of the back wall had given way and called firefighters at about 11:45 a.m.
Geitter said the firefighters were checking the building to make sure no one was inside when the collapse occurred, with a back corner a falling in on itself. At least two bystanders were recording as it happened. On one of the videos, a firefighter was seen at a window just moments earlier.
“We were lucky that none of our crews were injured,” Geitter said.
Geitter said the owner of the business, the Long & 20th Carry Out, lived in a different part of the building but was not inside when it happened.
A Google Maps photo of the building from 2019 showed all of the windows on the collapsed section were boarded up.
Several more units from Columbus’ fire and police departments responded afterward. Geitter said an emergency demolition order will be secured to tear down the rest of the structure.