By John Hall
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Texas — Four construction workers fell from the roof of a one-story office building when it collapsed Tuesday morning, and three were seriously injured.
Ambulances took them to University Medical Center, said John Concha, a spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department.
The fourth worker declined medical treatment. Fire investigators did not identify any of the injured workers.
The 7,000-square-foot building at 11351 James Watt was under construction and had been fully framed. The workers were roofing the building.
Truck driver John Leavitt witnessed the collapse from behind the Sam’s Club on Pelicano Drive.
“I’ve never seen anything like that. It looked like dominoes, it went down so quick,” Leavitt said.
Concha said wind might have factored into the collapse, but the investigation was continuing.
Leavitt said that after he heard a big “boom,” he saw two men fall with the structure.
“I jumped in the truck and called 911 real quick because I knew they were going to need medical help,” Leavitt said.
After helping the construction workers who had been injured, firefighters searched the debris for anyone else who might have been trapped. They dislodged the west wall of the building that had fallen against scaffolding that surrounded an adjacent building, which was also under construction.
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration will also investigate.
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