Collision Impact

Structural collapse may be caused by collision from various types of transportation vehicles or heavy equipment. Generally, the collapse area is localized, but may be complex due to the victim locations in the vehicle, victims in the structure, and the potential for spillage of fuel and cargo.

2.11 Progressive Collapse

Progressive collapses are a chain reaction caused by the collapse of one structure or part of a structure onto another structure. Walls, floors, or entire buildings may collapse progressively in domino fashion.

3. Examples of Structural Collapse

3.1 September 11, 2011, Terrorist Attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center

These events killed over 3,000 people and injured over 6,000. The subsequent collapse of World Trade Center (WTC) Towers 1 and 2 killed 343 firefighters and 75 police officers--the single largest loss of life in the history of the fire service. The response to these events brought all 28 of the Federal US&R teams to assist, as well as numerous State and local collapse rescue- response teams. The recovery operation for the WTC lasted for 8 months. The response to the attack on the Pentagon resulted in one of the largest …show more content…
They challenged and expanded the concepts of US&R operations and incident management. Among these incidents are the following:

• Hurricane Alicia, Texas, 1982;
• Propane explosion and collapse, Buffalo, NY, 1983;
• Coalinga earthquake, Coalinga, CA, 1983;
• L'Ambiance Plaza collapse, Bridgeport, CT, 1987;
• Whittier Narrows earthquake, Los Angeles area, 1987;
• Department store collapse, Brownsville, TX, 1988;
• Armenian earthquake, Soviet Armenia, U.S.S.R., 1988;
• Building collapse, West 31st Street, New York City, 1988;
• Loma Prieta earthquake, San Francisco Bay area, 1989;
• Hurricane Hugo, East Coast United States, 1989; and
• San Bernardino train derailment and structural collapse, California,