Columbian survives disaster in Clinton

Columbia resident Parker Mills was only half an hour away from being initiated into the Elks group in his hometown of Clinton on Monday.

A senior management student at MU, Mills was one of about 50 people eating and talking on the second floor of the Clinton Elks Lodge when the building collapsed, killing one man and trapping nine others for several hours.

“I saw the roof coming in first,” Mills said. “It was almost like it was raining bricks and ceiling tile.”

As the building came down around him, Mills ran toward the newest addition to the three-story structure, which he said had been built around 10 years ago.

“I was running up a slope as the building was collapsing,” he said. “When I got to the point where I thought I was close enough to jump, I dove into the newer section — luckily, I landed on firm ground.”

Once he was safe, Mills said, he returned to the dining room to help his stepfather and a friend, both of whom had fallen several feet with the floor. With the help of a couple of other men, Mills was able to pull them out of the fallen floor and bring them to safety.

Mills said that he and a few other people were able to leave the building through a lesser-known stairwell, which was hidden behind a doorway. When they emerged, police and firefighters were on the scene, he said.

“It was completely surreal,” Mills said. “It all happened so fast, but at the same time it was like everything was in slow motion.”

Once outside, Mills said he made sure his friend and stepfather received medical care for cuts and bruises but said he only suffered a two-inch scratch on his calf.

“Someone asked me afterward if I was scared,” Mills said. “I told them there wasn’t time to be scared — if you sat there and thought, you would have been sucked in with the floor.”

Missouri Task Force One, a division of the Boone County Fire Protection District, received a call Monday from Henry County Emergency Management to aid in the rescue of the trapped people, Division Chief Gale Blomenkamp said.

The task force, which is one of 28 FEMA urban search and rescue teams in the country, sent an initial reconnaissance team to Clinton within 30 minutes, Blomenkamp said. Included in the group were task force leader Scott Olsen and engineers to assess the structural situation, he said.

Half an hour later, a second group was deployed with specialty listening equipment and search dogs to help locate the trapped victims, Blomenkamp said. Another hour later, two tractor trailers loaded with shoring and breaching equipment, which are designed to handle heavy timber and concrete slabs, were sent to the site, he said.

On site, the task force helped stabilize access to the building entrance and also provided medical assistance, Blomenkamp said.

The task force is made up of doctors, engineers, volunteer firefighters from across the state, EMTs and search-and-rescue-type people, he said.

Christy Maggi, the economic development coordinator for Clinton, said that a structural engineer from Kansas City came Tuesday to inspect other buildings close to the lodge and that two more engineers from the U.S. Department of Commerce would arrive today to determine the cause of the collapse, which is still unknown.

“Following today’s evaluation, we will be allowing owners and employees to enter the surrounding buildings,” Maggi said. “They are safe to enter, but will remained closed to keep the public out of the zone.”

Maggi said the lodge building, which is over 100 years old, has long been a landmark in the town square. The loss of the building and the shock in the aftermath of the collapse have created a stunned atmosphere in the small town of about 9,500 people, she said.

“There are a lot of people who look like they can’t come to grips with what has happened,” Maggi said. “It’s a very quiet town right now.”

Debbie Stark, house supervisor at Golden Valley Memorial Hospital, said that the hospital treated a lot of minor injuries resulting from the collapse, but that the trapped victims were sent to several Kansas City hospitals.

“We treated mostly crush-related injuries, such as fractures,” she said.

Three of the trapped victims were airlifted to the University of Kansas Medical Center. One has been discharged, and two are in fair condition, according to nursing administrative coordinator Frankie Barker.

A fourth victim is in fair condition at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, said Kerry O’Connor, a media relations worker with St. Luke’s Heath System.