A man who was trapped in the rubble after a building collapsed describes what happened before and after it.
The collapse took place around 10:30 a.m. in the 300 block of Spring Street. According to St. Marys Fire Chief Doug Ayers, the incident took place in one of the city’s oldest buildings.
Kevin Sharp was one of two men trapped in the rubble after the collapse. He spoke with News Center 7’s John Bedell on the phone Friday as he continued to recover from his injuries.
Sharp was discharged from the hospital on Thursday.
“I’m in a lot of pain and I can’t very well get around at all,” Sharp informed the crowd.
He told NewsCenter 7 that he lived in the building that collapsed. He also stated that he has known the building’s owner, Todd Klosterman, for over a decade.
Sharp told News Center 7 at 5:00 p.m. that he was working for Klosterman at his building on Thursday with his friend and general laborer, Chris Brown. They were surveying a wall to prepare it for a contractor to work on.
“We was assessing the situation to see what the best, safest way to do it was,” Mr. Sharp explained.
Klosterman told News Center 7 on Thursday that he was aware of the structural issues and was working to prepare Mason Construction to begin repairs.
Earlier in the week, the men had actually worked on the building.
“Yes, previously in the week we had shored up the first floor in the basement area,” Mr. Sharpe replied.
Sharp and Brown were outside on Thursday morning, right up against the building, contemplating what to do with the second floor when something unexpected occurred.
“As we were working, the building – we heard a popping noise,” Sharp told me. “And I told Chris we have to get out of here because it’s gonna fall.”
Sharp described burying his head in the door casing of the side door in the hopes of surviving the falling debris.
“And the bricks rolled off the side of my body. “Large sections of the building were knocked down,” he explained.
Brown was buried under the rubble.
“I tried to shout for him right away, and I didn’t hear anything,” said the man.
Sharp was pinned but managed to free himself.
“I went into survival mode,” he explained.
A cop and a firefighter were able to pull him to safety. Hours later, he learned that crews were unable to rescue Brown.
“I really like Chris a lot and he has a lot of people that are just going to miss him,” Sharp informed me.
People like Darrell Kennedy, who was supposed to meet and hang out with Brown on Friday. News Center 7 interviewed Kennedy at a makeshift memorial for his friend, who was more like family.
“It was like a brother’s bond,” Kennedy said.
