One worker was killed and a second suffered critical injuries when a wall of a building being demolished for a city road-widening project collapsed on them Friday afternoon.
The incident happened shortly before 2 p.m. at a construction site at 314 E. Grant Road, just east of North Sixth Avenue.
The building was constructed of red brick and cinder block, and had a yellow sign on the side that read: Job Center.
Capt. Fabian Pacheco, of the Tucson Police Department, said the building was being demolished by a work crew that was using a back hoe with a bucket.
The back hoe was being operated by Eric Taylor, the foreman and president of Taylor’s Demolition & Recycling Inc., Pacheco said.
Two workers, who were near the back hoe, were standing by a load-bearing wall when the 15-foot high wall collapsed, Pacheco said. He said the workers’ backs were to the wall.
Others worked to clear the rubble to get to the men, and most of the rubble had been cleared when firefighters arrived at the scene, said Capt. Andrew Skaggs of the Tucson Fire Department.
Firefighters pulled the workers from the rubble. One worker, 54, was pronounced dead at the scene. “Our hearts go out to the family of the victim in this incident,” Skaggs said.
The second worker, 33, was taken by ambulance to Banner-University Medical Center Tucson suffering from internal injuries. He was in critical condition, Pacheco said.
Pacheco said the city hired Taylor’s Demolition and Recycling to demolish the structure as part of the Grant Road widening project.
Mike Graham, a spokesman for the city’s transportation department, confirmed that the building was purchased by the city as part of the widening project, and that contractors were hired to demolish the building.
The history of the building, including its age and square footage, was not immediately available Friday night.
OSHA and the city’s risk management personnel were at the scene Friday afternoon, police said.
However, Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigators took over the scene, said Lane Mandle, a city spokeswoman.
