Search and rescue operations at the site of the Surfside building collapse have been halted due to structural concerns that could endanger rescue teams, officials announced earlier.
Thomas Von Essen, former fire commissioner for New York City who was involved in search and rescue missions following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack, told CNN the site of the building collapse in Surfside, Florida, reminds him of similar problems they faced at the site of 9/11.
During search and rescue efforts following Sept. 11, Von Essen said they had to temporarily halt rescue operations due to structural issues that could endanger men and women searching the scene. Similarly, rescue efforts have been paused at the Champlain Towers South.
“It is just heartbreaking listening to the chief, because you could see how personal it has become for him. The idea of hearing a voice and then to have to stop trying to find that voice or unsuccessfully finding the voice,” he said.
Von Essen said experts have been “using all of the technology available” to detect movement in the structure. Earlier this morning, three devices monitoring cracks in the structure went off, causing operation to stop.
“It happened to us a lot on the Trade Center site. Remember, we had 14 acres so you were able to keep search going in some spots and have to stop it at other spots. But here, this is a much smaller area, so they’re afraid of any movement hurting the folks that are underneath and also debris falling on top of the guys and folks on top of the pile,” Von Essen told CNN.
To resume rescue operations in Surfside, Von Essen said experts need to decide how to handle the column that has shifted six to 12 inches.
“They don’t know how much is going to fall. Maybe not the whole building, but they don’t know if a considerable amount of concrete is going to fall, and if it falls 12 floors, you can’t be anywhere near it,” Von Essen said. “So they’ve got a tough decision to make there right now. And they’ve got the best people you can have, all of the engineers from Miami, from FEMA and everybody trying to help.”