District of Columbia

‘Not something that anybody expected or wanted’: DC row house collapse kills trapped worker, officials say

Ivy Lyons | ilyons@wtop.com
Acacia James | ajames@wtop.com

December 23, 2024, 4:00 PM

D.C. officials say the construction worker trapped under a two-story row home that collapsed in Northwest on Monday has died.

According to D.C. Fire and EMS, emergency crews were dispatched at 9:36 a.m. to a 2-story row home undergoing renovations in the 1100 block of V Street NW. At the time, officials told WTOP one construction worker was trapped beneath the home and that rescue operations were underway.

During a press conference shortly after 2 p.m., however, D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly Sr. and D.C. Department of Buildings Director Brian Hanlon announced the worker had died. The person was found toward the rear of the building. ... “Our units quickly assessed the scene and accessed the patient and they found that the patient was deceased,” Donnelly said.

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“We’re like, two days before Christmas. This is not something that anybody expected or wanted, and our condolences go out to the family and the people that are affected by this. And it’s a pretty large group of people, the workers on the scene, the man’s family. He was a 36 year old construction worker here, by all accounts, doing a great job,” Chief Donnelly said.

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Officials said they know very little about why the building collapsed and that they have seen no signs of fire. McCoy said he could only say the century-old row home was being renovated — construction teams were in a transition period between demolition (or raising) and construction when the incident occurred. Department of Buildings Director Brian Hanlon said he could not confirm the estimated age shared with reporters in earlier press conferences.

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This is a developing story. Stay with WTOP for the latest.