At 3 a.m. Wednesday, the Lexington Fire Department sent nine special operations personnel and a collapse truck to help search and rescue efforts in Martin County, where an 11-story coal sorting building collapsed the night before. A statement from the governor's office said that two workers were preparing the structure for demolition and were trapped when it fell on them. Captain Chris Roode is with the Lexington Fire Department.
“What they have with them is what we call our collapse truck. And so it is reinforced even more with heavy shoring, heavy tools, jackhammers drills, rigging equipment, so you know if they need to get a crane on site, they'll have enough rigging stuff to get started.”
Wednesday morning, Governor Beshear announced that one of the trapped workers died and rescue crews were trying to save the other. Six of the Lexington firefighters on the scene are structural collapse specialists, and we asked Roode about the difficult situation they faced.
“How do you find that fine line between doing everything you can to save someone and also keeping your folks safe?”
"That’ll be the toughest decision for the management team that’s there. They’ll do whatever it takes. The harder part for the commanders down there will be to pull them back.”
At a news conference, Roode said communication with the Lexington team in Martin County has been difficult due to its remote location.
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