More firefighter volunteers needed for search

More than 300 emergency workers throughout Georgia have helped search the collapsed midtown parking garage, but firefighters say more help is needed.

Temperatures above 90 degrees, coupled with furloughs in the Atlanta Fire Department has heightened the need for more manpower, Atlanta fire officials said.

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John Spink/jspink@ajc.com

Hot summer temperatures have been another challenge for firefighters, who wear about seven pounds of equipment, Atlanta Fire spokesman Bobby Stewart said.

Hyosub Shin / hshin@ajc.com

Mayor Shirley Franklin visits the scene Tuesday evening as workers continue to remove cars from the Centergy parking deck.

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“We’re still putting out a call for other agencies to help,” Atlanta Fire spokesman Bobby Stewart said Tuesday night. “They are tired and with the intensity of the heat, you can imagine the exhaustion of some of the crews.”

The operation had started with 55 Atlanta firefighters swarming to the parking garage around 12:30 p.m. Monday, after sections of four floors collapsed at Fifth and Spring streets. By Tuesday evening, about 300 firefighters, police and paramedics from throughout Georgia had responded to the scene. At 8 p.m. Tuesday about 188 were still working.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin met with fire officials Tuesday night. “I have a great deal of confidence in the firefighters and the planning,” Franklin said. “I have a sense of appreciation for how hard this is.”

Franklin declined to talk about furloughs but said they will end July 9. She also said she was grateful of the support provided by other fire and rescue agencies.

Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said the furloughs have forced the department to rely on more volunteers from other agencies. But the collapse was so large that even without furloughs, the department would have needed to recruit outside help.

Warner Robins firefighter Rick Reynolds thought about those furloughs and his fellow firefighters working in extreme heat when he decided to spend his day off in Atlanta.

Reynolds said he heard about the collapse Monday afternoon and made a few calls. By Tuesday morning, the Warner Robins department had assembled 30 volunteers to make the 90-minute drive to Atlanta.

Firefighters were divided into three main tasks: search and rescue, shoring and fire suppression.

White and his five buddies from Atlanta Station 8 on Marietta Boulevard built wooden trusses out of 6-by-6 posts to support the crumbling concrete.

“It may not look like they can hold but one of those beams can hold about 20,000 pounds of concrete,” said Capt. Douglas Hatcher of Atlanta Station 14. “We line the beams up and it’s a good support system.”

Each of the parking garage’s floors had 56 firefighters working on the shoring equipment, Hatcher said.

“We shore and then they search. The process is repeated so they can move cars out safely,” he said.

Firefighters from Covington to Carrollton and Riverdale to Rockdale strapped on air tanks and lined the basement of the garage later in the afternoon. They weaved hoses around the parking spaces as rescue crews combed each car.

“We’re on standby in case a fire breaks out,” Cherokee County firefighter Benjy Pearson said.

Pearson and his team each carried about 75 pounds of gear, which raised the temperatures at least another 30 degrees, he said. That mandated a rotation.

“We work 30 minutes and then rest for an hour,” Pearson said as lay on the ground of the parking deck.

“At least this coat makes a good pillow,” he joked.

Despite fears of dehydration, officials reported no injuries to the crews.

The firefighters expected to work throughout Tuesday night and most of Wednesday finishing the search of the parking garage, which involves cranes, bulldozers, thermal imaging cameras and high-tech sound equipment.