Elliot Lake, ON mall collapse

[Darren Dirt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLsIqo5aKr8

look at the location of the huge section that collapsed. I checked Wikipedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algo_Centre_Mall#Prior_issues

... and eventually found this:

http://www.elliotlakestandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?archive=true&e=3530554

I refuse to go into the mall unless absolutely necessary because of the leaks, the mould, the ready to collapse fixed ceilings in the news kiosk area by the food court. Nope, I'm not going to take a chance that I'll fall over a bucket or slip in a puddle of water or get hit on the head with a falling bit of ceiling or strangle myself on a dangling hose from a yellow tarp. There are broken windows and bricks ready to fall at the Zellers entrance at the rooftop. So yes sure you've spent a lot of money but the place is a nightmare and thank goodness the Fire Department found the problems. I can't imagine as a consumer not only having to deal with the water and the mould but also the lack of fire services and alarms - how dangerous is that! My gawd how can you defend your operation when it was found in violation of the law and fined. So lots of luck fixing the rooftop but for me the damage is done and I'm not interested in endangering myself by going into that wreck of a building.
Reply | Report | Page Top Post #3 By mEdia LuNa, 2 months ago

So sad, that this was not a "surprise" to the locals, that there were structural issues that hinted at this eventual danger or something like it.

as one Youtube comment simply put it: "This is what happens when water leaks and never gets fixed....."
Phar2Rekliss 1 day ago


in the article "Was The Collapse Waiting To Happen?" this photo says it all -- note the text label: "The same area where the collapse happened. This was from February 2012"

[Tom]

Wow. An entire section of the parkade fell in. That's a lot of cement.

[Mr. Analog]

Wow. An entire section of the parkade fell in. That's a lot of cement.

Yep, completely preventable and yet nothing happened.

Apathy: Friend of Entropy (brother of Ted ["Hi!"])

[Darren Dirt]

based on the comments by locals 2+ months ago, this graphical animation probably summarizes what happened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7GXT1E0i6Q


water + rust* + time = support beams not able to do much of a supporting job anymore.




*photos of rusting metal towards the end of this CBC news story on the collapse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OyV6mUIh-c
(in case you're curious, the collapse was right over the "K4" kiosk, right in front of the entrance to the above-the-roof "hotel" -- http://www.algocentremall.com/floor-plan/Algo-Centre-Mall-Floor-Plan.pdf )

[Thorin]

A terrible tragedy that could have been avoided if inspections were more rigourous and penalties for failing inspections were more harsh.

Also, can you imagine watching resscue crews stop work and leave the site and then have a police officer tell you that you can't go in when your loved ones are in there?  Especially if you've had 30 years of mine rescue training?  Yep, let the experts handle it, oh wait, they're leaving, well, I guess your loved ones aren't _that_ important.  That was complete @%&#e.  Lots of people have offered help, all the way up to sending in the army, but no, the experts are handling it and don't want outside interference.  Retarded.

[Mr. Analog]

It's being handled by Top Men...

Makes me think about how dysfunctional this country really is sometimes.

[Darren Dirt]

had some web errors when trying to post in the forum last night... solved?

nope. at least in CHROME (I jumped in via FF and it worked...)

Error 403

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http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/26/elliot-lake-mall-collapse-rescue/

On Tuesday, a carpet of cigarette butts littering the sidewalk was the only evidence of a near-riot spurred by Monday night?s surprise news that only hours after rescuers had reported hearing tapping from within the rubble, they were calling off the search and summoning a demolition company.

..."If it?s unstable, you stabilize it ... We?d have broken through the wall, gone in with supports and inflated an air pillow" - mine rescue veteran, stating the obvious

"what the rescuers are dealing with" http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06/27/elliot-lake-mall-collapse-graphic/

[Thorin]

locals suspected fears of unrest may have spurred the surprise Tuesday morning arrival of a busload of Toronto Police officers.

?They told us they were here to take debris out. Police don?t take debris out, rescuers take debris. These police are here to stop a riot,? local entrepreneur Jack Quinte told a TV news crew.

What, are they gonna kettle the people who were outraged that rescue efforts were stopped and volunteered to do it themselves?!

If I was told a police officer arrived from out of town to take debris out, I would say, "Pick up a hard hat, pick up a shovel, and start working, or GET THE @%&# OUT".

Seriously, concerns of a riot.  THESE PEOPLE WERE WILLING TO PUT THEMSELVES IN DANGER TO DO THE JOB THE "RESCUERS" WERE REFUSING TO DO.  That's not a riot.  That's not even close to a riot.

These people in charge are SERIOUSLY @%&#ING STUPID.

By the way, the building is so "unstable" that they're allowing the parked cars to stay on top, and they're still walking on it:

[Thorin]

This article precisely sums up what I think of this national disgrace: http://m.torontosun.com/2012/06/26/warmington-elliot-lake-will-not-forget

It's not that the building collapsed, or that there was a bunch of prior indications it might, it's that people trained and paid good money to go into unsafe conditions were told not to because it was unsafe.

Maybe if we pretended Elliot Lake was in Haiti or Indonesia or Sumatra or New Orleans, then the rescuers would be allowed to do their jobs.

[Darren Dirt]

This article precisely sums up what I think of this national disgrace: http://m.torontosun.com/2012/06/26/warmington-elliot-lake-will-not-forget

It's not that the building collapsed, or that there was a bunch of prior indications it might, it's that people trained and paid good money to go into unsafe conditions were told not to because it was unsafe.

Maybe if we pretended Elliot Lake was in Haiti or Indonesia or Sumatra or New Orleans, then the rescuers would be allowed to do their jobs.

As the TO Sun article you linked to pointed out, at some era in the not-so-distant past a Hero did not let a lack of permission stand in his/her way when Duty Called*. Pretty sad that I guess in this litigeous culture folks (even Heroes in waiting) are held back by worries about experiencing a civil lawsuit or similar  if they go against what the Authoritai say they aren't "allowed" to do... meanwhile the human body count piles up...





*(quote)
As the firefighters? credo states: ?I want to fill my calling and, to give the best in me, to guard my neighbour and protect his property, and, if according to (God?s) will, I have to lose my life.?

The ?I will stand down because some pencil pusher says it?s too dangerous and we will sit around and do nothing? line does not seem to be in there.

If Canada is now a country where a rescue worker has to sign a waiver to be brave, then it should also be a country that will not stand in the way of true heroes who don?t need medals to at least try.