Another reason for vigilance

Man survives collapse
Officials said nearby work knocked down a building's foundation
By Mike Argento for the York Daily Record, June 28, 2005
Angel Solis ... went to his apartment across the street to take a nap... and that's what he was doing -- sleeping ... when a loud bang woke him up.

The entire wall of his apartment - the rear of 520 S. George St. - had fallen off, and the floor was listing toward the gaping hole left behind.

"I just opened my eyes and grabbed on," Solis, 49, said. "It was instinct."

Workers for one of the contractors excavating the lot next door knocked down the foundation, which caused the wall of his apartment to collapse.

The building looked like a dollhouse ... you could see Solis' furniture - at least the furniture that hadn't fallen out - in the rooms. The roof was caved in. His bed was perched on the ledge that was once the side of the building.

"Last week ... they were banging away at the foundation, and I went out there and said, 'What the hell's going on here?' I told the guy to be careful; my house was falling apart."

"They didn't pay any attention... They said it was normal."

Technorati Tags: Fate, Folly, Disaster