LOGAN, W.Va. — Drivers in downtown Logan will have to deal with a single lane of traffic on Dingess Street for a while. Part of the Sayer’s Building in the city collapsed Friday afternoon and send bricks and other debris across the street.
“It shot debris all the way to the gas station across the street,” said Fuji Williams with the Logan Fire Department. “Some of our guys got most of it cleaned up to get one lane open through there.”
He added it’s very fortunate nobody was injured.
“We’re a small town, but at five o’clock it’s very busy in this area,” he explained. “We were very fortunate there were no vehicles or pedestrians under it.”
The building has been vacant for decades and was in the process of being sold. Now, it’s in the process of being torn down. According to Williams West Virginia Demolition out of Charleston brought equipment to the site Friday night to begin demolition. The work cannot start however until the process of asbestos abatement is completed.
The roof had already partially collapsed and was not allowing water to properly drain. During the freezing and thawing of winter, Williams said the building began to weaken structurally.
“Several different times bricks had fallen off of there,” he explained “It’s something we knew could happen and it was just a matter of time.”
The collapse knocked out power to about 350 homes in the downtown Logan area.