Superior Firefighters Respond To Partial Building Collapse, Natural Gas Leak

SUPERIOR, Wis. — A partial building collapse and natural gas leak in Superior Thursday afternoon caused some tense times at the Franklin Apartments and the Happy Hearts Childcare center located next door.

The incident started when a small section on the outside of the apartment building collapsed. The debris fell into the area where the apartment’s boilers were located as well as where the main gas line entered the building.  The Superior Fire Department and Superior Water, Light and Power responded to the scene.

A tenant who lives above the collapsed section said he heard what he thought was a strong breeze. As he looked out his window he realized it was a broken gas line.

Superior Fire Battalion Chief Joe Tribbey explained the scene when the fire department arrived. “We had occupants exiting the building on our arrival and our crew did a primary search and found two more occupants that they assisted out,” said  Tribbey

Next door at the Happy Hearts Childcare center, there were five babies, four pre-school, and 11 toddlers being taken care of when a fireman told them to evacuate.  The childcare workers immediately went into action.

Alisa Williams, spoke about the teamwork of the employees at the center.  “A lot of teamwork,” Williams said. ” We put them in the buggies and wagon and we have an emergency crib, we threw them in there and counted everybody. There’s a special Willow tree that all the kids go walk past.  We stuck them all there. And the owner and the assistant director called everyone, we called some parents.”

The gas line was shut off and there were no more concerns about the gas leak.  The city’s structural engineer was called in to ensure the building was structurally sound. Tonight, all apartment tenants are back with the exception of two apartments. The engineer wants to investigate a little further under those two apartments.