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Modified 2-Mar-25
Created 1-Mar-25
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On Thursday, February 28th two construction workers were killed when an exterior basement wall collapsed on them while they were working in a trench alongside the wall. Two other workers were uninjured in the accident. Baltimore County dispatch received a 9-1-1 call around 1130 hours reporting a collapse at a private residence at 507 Academy Road in Catonsville. When the first units from Westview and Catonsville arrived they reported that they had a stone wall approximately 10 ’tall x 15’ long that had fallen outward into a 6’ wide trench and two workers were reported trapped underneath. As the first responders assessed the situation they requested the Special Operations Team from Company 17 along with Baltimore City as well as Howard County’s Special Operations Teams.
Rescuers on the scene began pulling rocks from the downed wall and shoring up the freestanding joists of the exterior porch that was connected to the wall. The crew from Pikesville VFD Confined Space Team began using their fiber optic camera to try to locate the trapped workers underneath the wall.
For the next several hours crews methodically and aggressively worked to move pieces of the stone wall to reach the victims. Firefighters hand dug through the stones and debris and were aided by Howard County’s Crane 10 to move the larger and heavier pieces of stone and concrete. Crane 10 is equipped with a 21’ Palfinger telescoping crane arm and was invaluable to the rescue operation.
For the next four hours they continued to dig through the debris removing large stones from the collapsed wall. They finally reached the first victim and removed him around 1500 hours. He was pronounced deceased on the scene. The second victim, also deceased, was located and recovered around 20 minutes later in the same area. They were released to the State Medical Examiner later. Units remained on the scene for several more hours while authorities from Baltimore County Police, OSHA, Public Works and some other agencies conducted their investigations on the cause of the accident.
Rescuers on the scene began pulling rocks from the downed wall and shoring up the freestanding joists of the exterior porch that was connected to the wall. The crew from Pikesville VFD Confined Space Team began using their fiber optic camera to try to locate the trapped workers underneath the wall.
For the next several hours crews methodically and aggressively worked to move pieces of the stone wall to reach the victims. Firefighters hand dug through the stones and debris and were aided by Howard County’s Crane 10 to move the larger and heavier pieces of stone and concrete. Crane 10 is equipped with a 21’ Palfinger telescoping crane arm and was invaluable to the rescue operation.
For the next four hours they continued to dig through the debris removing large stones from the collapsed wall. They finally reached the first victim and removed him around 1500 hours. He was pronounced deceased on the scene. The second victim, also deceased, was located and recovered around 20 minutes later in the same area. They were released to the State Medical Examiner later. Units remained on the scene for several more hours while authorities from Baltimore County Police, OSHA, Public Works and some other agencies conducted their investigations on the cause of the accident.
© Howard Meile III