Milford Fire Department officials were called to the scene on Cooper Avenue around 1:20 p.m. after the home fell from concrete pilings, injuring a construction worker, Battalion Chief Anthony Fabrizi tells PEOPLE.
“The construction company had the home lifted, had the concrete piers in place. They were attempting to lift and move the home into position when something went awry,” Fabrizi tells PEOPLE. “The home did, in fact, shift and came off of what ever mechanisms they were using to life the home … that required all personnel to retreat from the area.”
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The construction worker sustained an injury to his right wrist and was taken to Milford Hospital.
Fabrizi says the house was one of many located near the Silver Sands beach area that needed to be raised following hurricanes Sandy and Irene. After the fall, officials immediately blocked off the area and determined that it was best to destroy the collapsed home.
“There was too much risk to life safety to try to save the structure, so it had to be destroyed,” Fabrizi says, noting that the home initially shifted and fell a foot off the support piers. “You can’t put a value on human life. The value of the home does not exceed human life, so, unfortunately, we could not save the structure.
Neighbors comforted the couple that owned the home, according toWTNH. The husband told the station that he was only concerned with consoling his wife. Fabrizi says the couple had planned to move back into their newly-raised home in about three weeks.
Neighbor Joe DiCocco told WTNH that he heard a loud “boom” when the house initially shifted.
“That house got hit three times with floods: In ’92, with Irene, with Sandy,” DiCocco told the station. “It was on the ground, then they decided to jack it up so the supports gave out after a time.”
source: people.com
