No deaths in JC parking garage collapse, officials say

JOHNSON CITY --A two-level parking garage collapsed Thursday afternoon at UHS Wilson Medical Center, leaving nearly two dozen vehicles trapped in the rubble but causing no deaths, officials said.

A large swath of concrete caved in on top of vehicles on the bottom level of the garage at 55 Baldwin St. Several cars were trapped under the collapsed section, with more on the remnants of the upper section.

Johnson City Police Chief Chief Brent Dodge said village police and fire officials arrived at the scene shortly after 3 p.m. Firefighters and police cut access holes for a visual search of the trapped vehicles and began contacting owners through tracing license plate numbers. A rescue dog was brought to the scene as well and found no evidence of injured people trapped inside.

"We feel very confident -- after searches with a recovery dog, the visual searches we did and the verification by running the plates -- we feel quite certain that there was no loss of human life as a result of the collapse," Dodge said.

One vehicle under the debris was still running when emergency officials arrived, leading firefighters from Johnson City and Binghamton to start removing the top layer of rubble, fearing someone could be trapped.

"It seems that the car has a push-button start, and the collapse started the car, so we were relieved to find out there was nobody inside that vehicle," Dodge said.

There was no immediate word on whether anyone was injured in the collapse.

Johnson City Mayor Greg Deemie said cleanup will continue into Friday and possibly beyond. A crane and other construction equipment are staged at the scene to deal with the slabs of collapsed concrete.

"At this point [the process is to] shore it up, get it to a point where we can start getting people in there to start taking things apart," Deemie said.

The village declared a state of emergency, banning unauthorized personnel on Main Street between Baldwin and Arch streets, Baldwin between Main and Corliss streets, Corliss between Baldwin and Arch, and Arch between Main and Corliss.

Deemie said the state of emergency remains in effect. Arch Street was expected to re-open to traffic, but Harrison will be open to hospital traffic only. No parking will be allowed on either.

"We want to keep people away from this area while we figure out what’s going on with this," Deemie said. "We don’t need the extra traffic."

Baldwin Street will be closed for the duration of cleanup, Dodge said.

A structural engineer was called to examine the garage, and determined that it was not tied into the adjoining Picciano Building, which houses food preparation and other infrastructure for Wilson. That building remains open. Underground office space beneath the garage remains closed, Dodge said.

The Broome County Office of Emergency services reported Thursday afternoon that UHS Wilson was fully functional and that emergency room patients had been asked to use the Decker entrance on Harrison Street.

In the hours after the collapse, worried bystanders crowded around yellow police tape, asking each other if anyone's car was parked in the garage. Firefighters surrounded the damaged structure as police interviewed witnesses.

Broome County Executive Debbie Preston said officials were thankful that the damage seemed to be limited to property.

"We can always replace cars and structures," she said.