Apartment City

Kansas City firefighters now take two simple safety steps that might have saved the lives of two colleagues in a 2015 building collapse . The steps were among the recommendations in a federal report released Thursday . Emergency tones are sounded, as they were two years ago, when firefighters are ordered out of a collapse zone. But now heads are counted to make sure everyone got the message — which was not done before. Fire Chief Paul Berardi acknowledged those steps might have saved the lives of John Mesh and Larry Leggio, who perished at a fire scene on Independence Boulevard. The federal report cites a series of operational failures that contributed to the firefighters’ deaths. The report said the two men should not have been in an alley next to the three-story building after all personnel were directed to pull back because of fears the walls would collapse. Six minutes after that order was given, they died in an avalanche of bricks. Poor communication and the failure to establi...

A fire that consumed the entire building of 900 Ashwood Apartments , which was destroyed, left all of the building's 20 residents unscathed and safe, Columbia Fire Battalion Chief Steven Sapp said. The fire started around 6 p.m., but Sapp said the fire department had not yet identified the cause of the fire. "We're still mopping up the hot spots," he said. Two firefighters were taken to the burn center at University Hospital. Both firefighters have since been released. Other damages included burns to two vehicles and substantial damage to a fire vehicle. Sapp said the majority of the residents have found temporary housing with family or friends. Those who could not find housing received vouchers for hotels from the American Red Cross . The American Red Cross also helped residents obtain necessities and clothing. "They lost not only the building, but all it's contents," Sapp said. "Many students lost books and notes." Sapp said he was u...

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- New developments in last year's wall collapse in Harrisburg, raises concerns about the potential for another collapse. It's a potential danger for people who walk or drive along Cameron Street near the Mulberry Street Bridge . This comes less than a month after Dauphin County documents showed the owners of MacFarland apartments admitted to owning the retaining wall that fell on a business below. This is a story that FOX 43 News has been following since May 2016, but for business owner Howard Henry , it's a story that has yet to have a happy ending. Ever since a retaining wall came loose and sent a wall debris onto and into Howard Tire and Auto last May, the store has closed, the customers are gone, and a dozen employees are out of a job. Attorney Mark Wendaur explains that a recent engineering study shows the aftermath might not be the end of the damage. Attorney Mark Wendaur said "with Greg Lebo's report, he actually picked up on essential...

Atlanta is a city of change, with construction constantly reshaping the urban realm. Buildings rise, buildings fall, and as the population of the city grows, so too has the skyline. Now, RentCafe has assembled 10 amazing, interactive “then-and-now” photos to highlight how Atlanta has been reshaped over the last 150 years. While some scenes are hardly recognizable, others illustrate how the city has actually saved some of its oldest structures. Off to the visual journey: ^ The first view is of Margaret Mitchell Square at the intersection of Peachtree and Forsyth Streets in the heart of downtown. The Candler Building in the background still stands today and is being converted into a hotel, while the narrow tower in the foreground of the 1938 image was reduced to just three stories to prevent its collapse during construction of Peachtree Center MARTA Station , which sits below the site. ^ Nothing remains today from this view of Whitehall Street in 1864. Now known as Peachtree, the road...

Amazon’s extraordinary growth has turned Seattle into the biggest company town in America. Amazon now occupies a mind-boggling 19 percent of all prime office space in the city, the most for any employer in a major U.S. city, according to a new analysis conducted for The Seattle Times. Amazon’s footprint in Seattle is more than twice as large as any other company in any other big U.S. city, and the e-commerce giant’s expansion here is just getting started. The swarms of 20-somethings crowding into South Lake Union every morning represent an urban campus that is unparalleled in the United States — and they have helped transform Seattle , for better or worse. Amazon’s rapid rise has fueled an economy that has driven up wages and lowered unemployment, but also produced gridlock on the roads and sky- high housing prices . And while Seattle’s booming economy is often attributed to a wide variety of factors, increasingly, it’s all about one company. Amazon now occupies more office space t...

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A Channel 4 I- Team investigation found the out-of-state landlord of a Nashville apartment complex earned $1,023,126 despite repeated code violations , including a caved-in ceiling and sewage leaks. Sheree McLaurin showed the Channel 4 I-Team photos of her ceiling caving in and the ripped-up kitchen floor in her apartment at the Riverchase Apartments complex in east Nashville . "It was horrible. It was horrible," McLaurin said. Danielle Nix also showed us photos of her old apartment at Riverchase, including how her ceiling was peeling apart and damage in her bathtub. "It was very deplorable conditions," Nix said. A Channel 4 I- Team investigation found the Riverchase complex received 18 code violations in the last five years. Among the violations city inspectors cited were sewage leaks, holes in the roof and a caved-in ceiling. And a city investigation is still ongoing into a suspected electrical fire in December 2013, which started w...