Emergency management crews investigate after deadly roof collapse in Blairsville

BLAIRSVILLE BOROUGH, Pa. — Blairsville Police Chief Louis Sacco spent part of the day Thursday with crews from Indiana County Emergency Management and The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigating Wednesday’s deadly roof collapse.

“We had the drone up here taking pictures of all sides of the building, actually, the roof, and was able to actually look inside the building without endangering any of us,” Sacco said.

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Chopper 11 flew over the old school Wednesday. You can see the hole in the roof where Sacco said John Plunkett, 63, died after falling through the roof when it caved in.

Sacco said Plunkett owned the building.

Another man, who Sacco said is Plunkett’s friend and an independent contractor, was able to crawl out of the building and tell police Plunkett was trapped inside.

Officer David Romagnoli went inside to find him.

“Actually, ended up finding the individual. He could hear his labored breathing,” Sacco said.

Plunkett was trapped under a lot of rubble and debris.

Romagnoli started to dig him out. Firefighters arrived shortly after, as did Citizen’s Ambulance.

Crews from all three were able to pull Plunkett from the building within 15 minutes. He was flown to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, where he later died.

Sacco said what they did was heroic.

“Things were pretty dangerous at that time, and everybody risked their lives to get to that individual,” Sacco said. “I mean, I witnessed it firsthand, and they need to be commended for what they did.”

While crews will now work to analyze drone video and photos to determine the future of the building, Sacco said his thoughts are with the impacted families, Officer Romagnoli, and the other first responders who tried to help.

“Unfortunately, we get calls like this a lot of times, either the police or within the fire departments, and It works on you,” Sacco said. “It’s tragic.”

Sacco said the other person who was injured in Wednesday’s incident is stable.

There is no timetable for when the safety assessment of the building will be completed.

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