Former maintenance worker at collapsed Iowa building says owners refused to make storm repairs

Aaron Aguilar, who worked and lived at the building on 324 Main Street before it changed owners in 2021, tells The Independent that concerns about the building’s safety came long before the collapse last week

A former maintenance employee at the collapsed building in Iowa has claimed he warned the owners of the structure’s deteriorating conditions three years before it tragically fell down.

Three men are still feared trapped under the rubble following the 28 May collapse of the six-storey apartment building, Davenport authorities said during a Friday press conference. The search has transitioned into a recovery effort following revelations that neither the owner nor city officials warned tenants of a structural engineer’s report indicating a wall of the structure was at imminent risk of crumbling.

Aaron Aguilar, who worked and lived at the building on 324 Main Street before it changed owners in 2021, told The Independent in a phone interview that concerns about the building’s safety came long before the collapse last week.

Mr Aguilar said that much of the water damage that several tenants voiced concerns about came after a derecho storm hit Iowa in August 2020. The maintenance worker said he and two other employees evaluated the massive damage and reported it to the then-owners and would-be owner Andrew Wold.

“The rooftop had basically peeled back roughly six to eight feet. On that whole back edge,” Mr Aguilar said. “We had a meeting with the owner before [Mr Wold] took over and [Mr Wold] was involved in the meeting ... and we expressed our concern on how that building could collapse on itself and nobody took it serious[ly].”

Mr Aguilar, who lived in an apartment on the sixth floor with his family, said that Mr Wold was introduced to him as a contractor and allegedly even joined him when he went to the roof to assess the damage left by the storm.

“That’s when we really saw the amount of damage that had been caused,” Mr Aguilar said. “The water flow was flowing on the inside and the back, the outside of the backside of that building ...There were bricks that had fallen down at that point.”

Mr Aguilar said he and two other building workers expressed their concerns, but two weeks after the storm, they hadn’t received a green light to move on with repair work. When they brought up fears that the building would collapse during the meeting with owners, he said that they were dismissed and “kind of laughed off.”

“We were very frustrated by [their response] because I lived there, and it wasn’t just my home. It was other people’s homes and their well-being that were potentially in jeopardy,” Mr Aguilar told The Independent.

“The tenants that we had known over the years that basically become friends had been expressing their concerns as well and it was an everyday question, ‘Is this building going to fall? ...Nobody thought it could happen. Nobody that was not living there, basically.”

Mr Aguilar said he believes the damage caused three years ago may have been one of the underlying reasons why the structure finally came crashing down. Building officials have not confirmed a cause for the collapse pending an investigation.

Aarron Aguilar took this picture of The Davenport’s roof after a storm hit Iowa in 2020. Mr Aguilar says he believes the damage caused three years ago may have been one of the underlying reasons why the structure finally came crashing down (Aaron Aguilar)

“Obviously, we didn’t have any expert opinion by any means ... but the water was flowing from the rooftop all the way down to the basement of the building,” he said. “It was in that whole centre section where the collapse happened and in my opinion, it was caused by the lack of repairs, lack of preventing the water from deteriorating the mortar or the grid.”

Mr Aguilar left the building in December 2020, after owners told him they were selling the building to Mr Wold and his employment would not continue. The former tenant said he rushed to the scene of the collapse when he heard the news and offered to help in the evacuation, but was told only first responders were allowed inside.

“I offered to try and help because I know the building very well. I knew there are access points for the different locations that most people don’t know of and they said that they weren’t allowing anybody to go in,” Mr Aguilar said.

Mr Aguilar knew Ryan Hitchcock, one of the men feared trapped under the wreckage. He was also there when a woman was rescued following statements by authorities that “no one was believed to be trapped.”

“It was very shocking to see obviously. I mean the water was still flowing out of different floors and all the alarms were still going off,” he said. “The dust was still settling at that point and I picked up my phone and I immediately tried calling Ryan because I knew the location of his apartment [on the second floor] and obviously I didn’t get any answers.”

The Independent has reached out to Mr Wold and a previous owner for comment.

Debris hangs from a six-story apartment building after collapse on May 29 (Getty Images)

Three men are believed to be trapepd under the rubble (DPD)

Tenants Branden Calvin and Daniel Prein are also missing. City officials said on Friday they “had a high probability of being home” at the time of the partial building collapse. Their names have been entered in the National Database for Missing People.

A myriad of reports from past and current tenants and a construction worker that the building’s conditions were unsafe have emerged following the collapse. Last year, the building submitted nearly 20 permits, mainly for plumbing or electrical issues.

Iowa court records reviewed by The Independent show that Mr Wold and Davenport Hotel LLC are listed as defendants in a civil enforcement action brought by the City of Davenport on 30 May. Mr Wold faces a $300 fine for failing to keep the building “safe, sanitary and structurally sound condition,” WQAD reports.

It is unclear whether Mr Wold will have a chance to present his case before city officials before the fine becomes effective.

Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said on 30 May that “demolitions plans have been continuously evaluated” but dodged questions about why demolition was announced before the city even addressed that several tenants were still missing.

An aerial view shows a portion of a six-story apartment building after its collapse (Getty Images)

“Do I have regrets about this tragedy and about people potentially losing their lives? Hell yeah. Do I think about this every moment? Hell yeah.” Mr Matson then said on 1 June. “I have regrets about a lot of things. Believe me, we’re going to look at that.”

City officials said they did not order an evacuation because they relied on an engineer’s assurances that the building remained safe. The engineer was reportedly hired by the owner, according to a previous statement.

Experts have said the structure built in the 1900s is extremely unstable and a collapse is imminent. Because of the layout, with the rear brick part holding together much of the steel structure, officials said there were likely no void spaces where trapped victims could have taken shelter.

Fire authorities have since said they began the permitting process but will stage the demolition in a moderate and controlled manner at a later time. City Administrator Corri Spiegel said the building likely is “filled with asbestos” given its age, and the city will develop a plan to ensure workers and people in the area are protected when the remaining structure is demolished.