THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 19, 1995 TAG: 9507190415
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY W. BROWN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Wayne Alexander heard a loud pop, like a gun being fired, then a rush of sound. Three seconds later, he was hanging from a partially collapsed deck in the unfinished addition of the Norfolk City Jail.
``It was loud, like an avalanche, as the deck went,'' said Alexander, 48. ``Then you heard a lot of noise. It was over in an instant.''
Alexander, of Portsmouth, said he did not know how to react until the life-threatening experience was over. Once he was out of danger, he was moved to tears.
He was one of eight construction workers taken to hospitals Tuesday morning after the collapse. All the men, officials said, escaped serious injuries. There were no broken bones, only strains, sprains, bruises and scrapes.
Six workers were taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. The other two went to DePaul Medical Center. A firefighter paramedic, Frank Signorelli, was taken to Sentara Leigh Hospital for heat exhaustion, police said.
Christine Wagner, a spokeswoman for DePaul, identified the workers taken there as Mack Moore, 32, of Virginia Beach and Ulysses Prince, 34, of Norfolk.
Both were treated and released, she said.
Deborah Myers, a spokeswoman for Sentara Norfolk General, identified the five other men taken there as:
Henry Coleman, 39, of Norfolk.
Shawn Creekmore, 28, of Virginia Beach.
Joseph Mitchell, 41, of Virginia Beach.
Timmy Spencer, 30, of Virginia Beach.
Marcus Warren, 39, of Portsmouth.
Myers said all the men, except Coleman, were treated and released. Coleman was listed in stable condition and was scheduled to remain in the hospital overnight for observation.
Dr. Francis Counselman, the attending physician in the Emergency Room at Sentara Norfolk General, said the men were fortunate.
``I think they were extremely lucky. It's amazing we've gotten as little injuries as we have,'' he said. ``The potential for serious injury was there.''
Alexander, who suffered a strained back muscle, said everything on the construction site appeared to be fine when he began work on the third floor of the unfinished building about 6 a.m. The collapse began two hours later when he heard the noise.
``It really happened pretty quick,'' he said Tuesday afternoon from his home in the 4000 block of Greenway Court West in Portsmouth. ``All of a sudden I could see the center section give. . . . Men and equipment were starting to sink.''
Alexander, a 16-year construction veteran, said he spun around and tried to grab hold of the highest point he could find. The area that collapsed thrust the outside edges of the deck upward at about a 45-degree angle. He grabbed one of the edges and hung on.
``All I was doing was hanging on for dear life,'' he said.
He was there for two to three minutes until he realized the collapse had stopped. Around him he heard more noise mixed with screams from injured workers as well as operators shouting ``Calm down.''
He then was able to slide down from his spot.
``I was so shaken up,'' he said. ``I just sat down and let go.''
Alexander was then taken to the hospital. He was still in some pain Tuesday afternoon. He remembered he had been walking underneath the area that collapsed not long before it fell in. If anyone had been trapped there, he said, they surely would have been seriously injured or killed.
He said he didn't realize the stress and danger of his job until after he was back on solid ground.
``Most of the shock, I think, is behind me,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
KEYWORDS: ACCIDENT GENERAL INJURIES NORFOLK CITY JAIL by CNB