Building Demolition Fail Vancouver BC
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Further article
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/City+W...5083/story.html
A flag person narrowly escaped being crushed by two walls and a lamp post Thursday night during a botched demolition of a building in Vancouver's West End.
The incident, videotaped by a nearby resident and posted on YouTube, occurred just before 6 p.m. when the downtown streets were still packed with pedestrians and drivers.
The video, which included an aerial shot from a balcony and one from the street, showed a backhoe knocking the north wall of the building onto Helmcken Street, before the west wall collapsed onto Hornby about 10 minutes later.
A huge crowd gathered to watch as the wall came crashing down, forcing a flag person to jump quickly out of the way to avoid being struck by the debris.
A female driver, who stopped her car during the mayhem, was also seen looking dazed and confused as she exited her vehicle to find a cinder block beneath it.
The rest of the street was littered with rubble.
WorkSafeBC, which was notified by police after the incident occurred, has closed down the site pending an investigation, spokeswoman Donna Freeman said.
"Someone could have easily been killed; it's quite serious," she said, adding she hasn't seen a similar situation before. "This is a first for me."
WorkSafeBC has begun interviewing the members of the demolition company as well as witnesses to determine what caused the walls to fall on the sidewalk and whether the demolition company completed a notice of project.
The demolition was being carried out by Global Excavation and Demolition, a Surrey company incorporated in April 2007 and run by Jagjeet Singh Panesar and Karmjeet Singh Panesar.
Jagjeet said Friday he didn't know why everyone was "trying to blow this out of proportion" while Karmjeet said he was hurt that the media were treating it as a joke and "making it sound like we're some criminals."
The company took all the proper safety precautions before starting the demolition, including closing off Hornby, he said. He noted the incident occurred during rush hour when "it's hard to control traffic
have to expect these things in construction. If we hadn't taken safety precautions there would have been someone hurt.
Karmjeet Singh Panesar Global excavation and demolition
and pedestrians."
"No one got injured and no one got hurt," said Karmjeet, who was operating the backhoe. "[The media are] making it as if a new movie is coming out ... it hurts because damages have been caused and we're the ones liable.
"You have to expect these things in construction. If we hadn't taken safety precautions there would have been someone hurt."
The demolition company spent Friday clearing debris from the sidewalk and "trying to get everything under control," Karmjeet added. The company is facing costs of more than $4,000 to repair the lamp standard.
"We're trying our hardest to keep everyone safe," he said.
Meanwhile, the City of Vancouver is also investigating whether the demolition company was following city bylaws. A public safety officer must be on site during a demolition, but it's not known if this was done at the time.
"This is not the norm," said Will Johnston, the city's chief building inspector. "It's something that's very concerning to us. Safety around work sites is paramount to us."
Johnston said he hadn't heard of the company, which was likely hired by the property owner or developer to carry out the demolition.
The building, which had previously housed the William Davis Centre for Acting Development, is slated to be developed into the luxury Vancouver Artemisia Condominium Residences by James Schouw and Associates.
Schouw did not return phone calls.
"We were just made aware of this a few hours ago," Johnston said. "The important piece here is we have shut down this site."
ksinoski@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/City+W...l#ixzz0qqJqnAQH
http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/City+W...5083/story.html
A flag person narrowly escaped being crushed by two walls and a lamp post Thursday night during a botched demolition of a building in Vancouver's West End.
The incident, videotaped by a nearby resident and posted on YouTube, occurred just before 6 p.m. when the downtown streets were still packed with pedestrians and drivers.
The video, which included an aerial shot from a balcony and one from the street, showed a backhoe knocking the north wall of the building onto Helmcken Street, before the west wall collapsed onto Hornby about 10 minutes later.
A huge crowd gathered to watch as the wall came crashing down, forcing a flag person to jump quickly out of the way to avoid being struck by the debris.
A female driver, who stopped her car during the mayhem, was also seen looking dazed and confused as she exited her vehicle to find a cinder block beneath it.
The rest of the street was littered with rubble.
WorkSafeBC, which was notified by police after the incident occurred, has closed down the site pending an investigation, spokeswoman Donna Freeman said.
"Someone could have easily been killed; it's quite serious," she said, adding she hasn't seen a similar situation before. "This is a first for me."
WorkSafeBC has begun interviewing the members of the demolition company as well as witnesses to determine what caused the walls to fall on the sidewalk and whether the demolition company completed a notice of project.
The demolition was being carried out by Global Excavation and Demolition, a Surrey company incorporated in April 2007 and run by Jagjeet Singh Panesar and Karmjeet Singh Panesar.
Jagjeet said Friday he didn't know why everyone was "trying to blow this out of proportion" while Karmjeet said he was hurt that the media were treating it as a joke and "making it sound like we're some criminals."
The company took all the proper safety precautions before starting the demolition, including closing off Hornby, he said. He noted the incident occurred during rush hour when "it's hard to control traffic
have to expect these things in construction. If we hadn't taken safety precautions there would have been someone hurt.
Karmjeet Singh Panesar Global excavation and demolition
and pedestrians."
"No one got injured and no one got hurt," said Karmjeet, who was operating the backhoe. "[The media are] making it as if a new movie is coming out ... it hurts because damages have been caused and we're the ones liable.
"You have to expect these things in construction. If we hadn't taken safety precautions there would have been someone hurt."
The demolition company spent Friday clearing debris from the sidewalk and "trying to get everything under control," Karmjeet added. The company is facing costs of more than $4,000 to repair the lamp standard.
"We're trying our hardest to keep everyone safe," he said.
Meanwhile, the City of Vancouver is also investigating whether the demolition company was following city bylaws. A public safety officer must be on site during a demolition, but it's not known if this was done at the time.
"This is not the norm," said Will Johnston, the city's chief building inspector. "It's something that's very concerning to us. Safety around work sites is paramount to us."
Johnston said he hadn't heard of the company, which was likely hired by the property owner or developer to carry out the demolition.
The building, which had previously housed the William Davis Centre for Acting Development, is slated to be developed into the luxury Vancouver Artemisia Condominium Residences by James Schouw and Associates.
Schouw did not return phone calls.
"We were just made aware of this a few hours ago," Johnston said. "The important piece here is we have shut down this site."
ksinoski@vancouversun.com
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/City+W...l#ixzz0qqJqnAQH
Ya think!?
Former Moderator
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 18,852
Likes: 1
From: New York
I don't blame the company. It seems that it's ok to do this in Canada, or else it would have never happened. In NY, before you demo a building, you need to have inspections for 4 weeks. I guess in Canada, any tard can drive up in a CAT and start swinging the hoe around. Brilliant!
P.S. In America, when a building is being demo'ed, 5 square blocks are cleared.
P.S. In America, when a building is being demo'ed, 5 square blocks are cleared.
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