Crews prepare collapsed Washington building for demolition

Five days after its upper stories suddenly collapsed and trapped a woman for nine hours before a dramatic rescue, a building in downtown Washington is being set up for demolition.

A construction company will work on the site of the Main Street Apartments building Monday, including putting up protective fencing and coverings over neighboring buildings, officials said. Demolition is scheduled to begin Tuesday, although it will be a slow, painstaking process with much of the work done by hand.

The upper stories fell in on Wednesday morning, with tenants scrambling to flee as brick walls began to disintegrate around them.

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Megan Angelone didn’t make it out in time, and firefighters and special rescue personnel labored for hours in high temperatures to pry her from the rubble. Two of them had to be hospitalized for heat-related issues.

At one point, personnel evacuated the ruined building, fearful it would collapse further. But they returned and eventually pulled Angelone from beneath a refrigerator that protected her from two stories’ worth of debris.

She was hospitalized with moderate injuries but is expected to fully recover.

The building’s owners had previously been cited for the poor condition of the building, and were already scheduled to be in court this week.

Cox Media Group