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Subscribe to RSSDemolition crews will finish tearing down the Florida home under which a sinkhole opened last week. One resident was tragically lost in the incident and homes nearby are being evacuated. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports.
SEFFNER, Fla. -- Authorities hope to get a better look at a sinkhole that swallowed a man in his Florida home once demolition crews knock down the remaining walls of the house Monday and begin clearing away the debris.
Crews on Sunday razed more than half the home, managing to salvage some keepsakes for family members who lived there.
The opening of the sinkhole has been covered by the home, but once emergency officials and engineers can see inside it more clearly, they could begin planning how to deal with it. They also need to decide what will happen to the two homes on either side of the now-demolished house. Experts say the sinkhole has "compromised" those homes, but it's unclear whether steps can be taken to save them.
Jeremy Bush, 35, tried to save his brother, Jeff, when the earth opened up and swallowed him Thursday night.
On Sunday morning, Bush and relatives prayed with a pastor as the home — where he lived with his girlfriend, Rachel Wicker; their daughter, Hannah, 2; and others — was demolished and waited for firefighters to salvage anything possible from inside. The home was owned by Leland Wicker, Rachel's grandfather, since the 1970s.
The operator of the heavy equipment worked gingerly, first taking off a front wall. Family belongings were scooped onto the lawn gently in hopes of salvaging parts of the family's 40-year history in the home.
Pink teddy bear saved
As of Sunday afternoon — when demolition had stopped for the day and only a few walls remained — a Bible, family photos, a jewelry box and a pink teddy bear for Hannah were among the items saved. Firefighters also were able to pick out the purse of one of the women in the home.
Cheers went up from family, friends and neighbors each time something valuable was salvaged.
Wanda Carter, the daughter of Leland Wicker, cradled the large family Bible in her arms. She said her mother and father had stored baptism certificates, cards and photos between the pages of that Bible over the years.
"It means that God is still in control, and He knew we needed this for closure," she said, crying.
Carter said she spent from age 11 to 20 in the home, and she had to close her eyes as the home was knocked down.
"Thank you for all of the memories and life it gave us," she said.
'We just prayed with them'
The Rev. John Martin Bell of Shoals Baptist Church said he had been with the family all morning. "We just prayed with them," he said. He added that all five who lived in the house — Bush, Wicker, Hannah and two others ages 50 and 45 — were in need of support and prayers from the community.
Several generations of family members lived in the home at the time of the ground collapse, including Jeff Bush, the man now presumed dead.
Jeremy Bush tried to save his brother by jumping into the sinking dirt hole. He had to be pulled out of the still-shifting hole by a Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputy, who was visibly shaken when talking about the incident more than a day later.
Luis Echeverria / AP
A look at some of the most amazing sinkholes around the world.
"I've never seen anything move so fast and do so much destruction," Deputy Douglas Duvall said.
The search for Jeff Bush, 37, was called off Saturday. He was in his bedroom Thursday night in Seffner — a suburb of 8,000 people 15 miles east of downtown Tampa — when the ground opened and took him and everything else in his room. Five others in the house at the time escape unharmed as the earth crumbled.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is conducting the investigation. Detective Larry McKinnon said the sheriff's office and the county medical examiner cannot declare Bush dead if his body is still missing. Under Florida law, Bush's family must petition a court to declare him deceased.
"Based on the circumstances, he's presumed dead; however the official death certificate can only be issued by a judge and the family has to petition the court," McKinnon said.
The area around Seffner is known for sinkholes due to the geography of the terrain, but they are rarely deadly. No one — from longtime public safety officials to geologists — could remember an incident where a person was sucked into the earth without warning.
Related:
A broken home full of memories
The science of sinkholes: Common, but rarely catastrophic
This story was originally published on Mon Mar 4, 2013 6:25 AM EST
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What a tragedy for this family to try to cope with. As the ground continues to prove dangerous for others and officials must move forward with the difficult decisions required.As this is such an unusal sinkhole, it is proving a challenging case. Trying to cope with the loss of a loved one, and everything one owns no doubt is just overwhelming. I hope there will be a positive response from the community to help this family get back on their feet. Anyone who has faced a similar situation understands how hard it is to try to pickup your life and try to move forward. It is just overwhelming. May they find comfort, peace and help in the days ahead.
I feel horrible for the poor guy who went into the hole! It seems that they will just build anywhere anymore! This is what happens! The house looks like a cheap trailer park home, low cost housing area, of course! Build anywhere for $$$$$, never mind the danger!
Jeepgal ... What a horrible insenstive post! Did you read the article above? The home has been in the family since the 70's. Sinkholes are VERY common in Florida regardless of the affluence of the subdivision.
Jeepgal66, the house has been standing since the 70's. It is an old family home in a middle-class suburb of Tampa. The blame lies on no one...it was an act of nature, as sinkholes are.
JeepGal66,
Everything is not fodder for socio-political contentiousness. Heresathought...makes some good points. Sometimes bad things happen to people for no reason at all other than they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's not always about "the man" abusing the common man.
Terrible and totally freak way for someone to die. I just heard the sink hole is 60 feet deep. Do not believe they will be able to recover the body due to the shifting soil. That land will never be useable again so once they fill it in will there will a grave stone put on it for the victim? So sad.
"Mr. DPW worker...Tear down this wall!!!"
The only question I have if they cant declare him dead, does that mean he can continue collecting his retirement check !
@another knowit all idiot - The guy was 35 so there was no retirement check. If you were trying to be funny, it was in very poor taste.
@anotheridiot - way to make light of a man who died in a pretty gruesome way, and his kids and family having to witness it and not being able to do anything about you. I hope to God you realize your comment was childesh and classless. You are another idiot.
I think if my loved one was in there, I would have suggested netting the house and pulling it off the foundation with heavy equipment or an alternative way of demolishing it. Three or four bulldozers attached to the house could have pulled it right into the front yard exposing the hole for a last chance search and rescue operation in about 15 minutes. I am definitely not a sinkhole expert but it just seems with all the technology and heavy equipment we have, there is a better way of moving a house 40 or 50 feet in an emergency situation like this so a last chance rescue or recovery operation.
Great idea. Except for the part where the house falls into the hole when you pull it off the foundation.
Yeah, right. I want to be one of those three or four guys operating tons of bulldozer equipment in a sinkhole zone. You might want to rethink that solution RR123.
Yeah, right! The Earth just sucked up one of your relatives and destroyed your home! But you get to keep your phony-baloney Bible, whooptie!
you are blank.
no emotion. just cold and blank.
Pass on that controlling god, wonder what that man did to piss him off, sad way to die...
Easy. He forsook the Lord.
voxrationis - When you get to hell, ask the Devil if he has anything you can hang onto for comfort!
Voxrationis,
Commenting on that family's belief and item of comfort as the Bible in the manner you did is totally appalling. People have a right to their beliefs whether you believe in anything or not. I don't see any comforting word or other options from you on how to cope and move on.
I don't believe, and put no faith in what I call man made religion, but I whole heartedly agree with your statement. Many of us have served this nations military to protect a persons right to believe, or not to believe. Ones rights ends where the rights of another begin. These people have suffered a loss, and my sympathies go to them. It is not right, nor is it the right for someone to insult them for their beliefs in such a time of personal sorrow.
My sincere condolences to the family on their loss.
Hopefully, they might still be able to recover the lost man for the families sake.
While I do agree that Voxrationis's comments about the family's beliefs were out of line....Doesn't (s)he have a point? Shouldn't the family have been grieving for Jeff Bush and not be concerned with an old ratty Bible? Their reaction seems stupid to me.
I would hazard a guess that the family is grieving for the loss of Jeff Bush and if having a family Bible brings them comfort in this time of tragic loss, then by all means they should have that Bible. A 2-year old child finds comfort in a teddy bear and the adults find comfort in their Bible. Leave the anti-religion rhetoric out of this discussion, please, for the sake of the family.
If that "old ratty Bible" is all they have left of him and their home, then I say it is important to them to have, to HELP them grieve.
In a disaster, you have to concentrate on saving who and what you can. Only after it's over can you truly grieve for what is lost.
That "old ratty Bible" was also home to family memorabilia, like baptismal certificates, photos and the like. Past generations always kept family keepsakes inside their Bibles. In other words, that "old ratty Bible" was not just a book, it was a treasured family heirloom. A little sensitivity and compassion go a long way, Sean.
Lawful1, you are right on point! Sean M. Hunter, you seem stupid to me.
It has been my observation over the years, which others have shared with me also, that when serious events or tragedies occur, these seem to reveal the true characters of people.How compassionate, caring, or judgmental, what the very fiber really is at their basic core as a human being.
Whether involved as immediately in the situation or detached as an outsider.That which people focus upon and bring to the forefront is like a peek inside that one doesn't usually get to see normally.Yet can be quite revealing. At times we can discover things about ourselves, we don't notice. Leading to thoughtful examination and rethinking of perspectives.Life is about growth and hopefully we never stop learning.And about what it means to be human.Hopefully as others face challenges in life, we can become more compassionate, tolerant and far less judgmental.
What an inconsiderate response about their Bible, a lot of people keeps their family tree and other important family history in those bibles you so speak ignorant of, plus when one is dealing with a tragedy of this nature, one can find comfort in that old Bible, been there, done that!!!
With this sinkhole and this poor man being buried alive, what is the future plans for the neighborhood ?
Do they just leave him buried their and close hole and stabilizes this sink hole ? Build another house on top of buried man? Leave lot vacant and put headstone their ? Neighborhood would be up in arms if any of these situations happen.
They must find this buried man and give him a proper burial. This is the only way to solve this tragedy.
And risk sending more men to their graves in an unstable chasm, just to find one man buried alive? Sinkholes are notoriously unstable, and likely to collapse in on anyone who dares go down into their depths. This isn't one of those types of sinkholes carved out of solid bedrock, with their solid cliff walls that could support men and equipment. This is one of those "dirt hole" types, where the dirt walls of the pit collapse in on themselves with every shift in weight.
No. Even if it was my own father down there, I could never ask someone to risk their own life just to recover my father's remains.
They should have atleast got a helicopter or a long extended crane and lowered somebody down (without touching any thing or compromosing his safety ) to atleast look . Or a remote control camera to take a look to see if anything could be done. I have seen cranes which can extend hundreds of feet and can defintely lower one person to take a look.
This is a situation where technology could have been put to use, instead of simply using those cranes to build skyscrappers.
Do you even have and idea of the amount of down draft that a helicopter puts out hovering in one place? Talk about shifting the soil, why that would bring down enough dirt from the sides to guarantee the sink hole would expand and collapse the plug which is precariously being held in place over another bottle neck above another massive chamber beneath.
Haven't you ever seen a helicopter over water trying to rescue folks and the effect of its wind on the surface area beneath? It's ain't glass smooth surfaces, but whipped blasted outwards and a hell of a ride for anyone going up or down!
Then there is your crane idea. Any idea how heavy one of those things are? Not to mention working with the ground perimeter and shifted dirt, being 100 feet limit.Exactly how do you expect the operator to see what they are doing while you are at it. And let's throw in, they don't know why the house is STILL standing.When it should have collapsed by now.So, stick your fella rescuer on the end, lower him and then, bang, the house caves in. How fast can the operator pull that poor rescuer back out,with the walls on top of him now too? Oops, lost another person to the sink hole! Please, let's let the professional and experts handle the situation shall we? I'm sure they have already thought of every solution possible.
Rescuers understand what the lay person never does.The actual physical and natural laws one must confront and work within. Mother nature is not forgiving.
Hope the family gets some help with their home. Natural disasters are bad but when you lose a loved one and are the only one in the neighborhood stricken it is devastating. :-(
if they don't find him ,place a tombstone right there
When is the 1600 Pennsylvania address going to have this happen to it? Only then will they try to figure out whats going on.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of this man. I pray that they can find closure soon.
Let this be a lesson to all:
THIS is what happens when you try to divide by zero.
Im just curious how much the people that write these stories get payed ???....because my 7 year old son pointed out the word in the main title is NOT spelled (RAZED) it is spelled (RAISED)...my son could use a job if these people need someone that actually knows how to spell
azsoldier, to "raze" something means to destroy or demolish it by flattening or leveling it; so the wording is correct. The house wasn't "raised" (elevated) the house was razed.
better keep both you and your son out of the news bussiness. oddly enough this time the news guys got it right. They Razed the house. Had they Raised it then they could have setit down somewhere else.
azsoldier - Do YOU get paid?
azsoldier
You need to ask your seven year old how to spell payed; it isn't payed, its paid. Give my best to your 7 year old.
I don't understand why they could not have had a few volunteer's or firefighters get into the scoop and maybe grab some things : ( I realize it might have been a tad dangerous but that is just so sad. They couldn't tie someone to something and go get there purses and a couple of things? I feel so bad for this family, I am sure hoping the locals help them out ALOT!!! They will need it.
Yes it's sad, but material things are not worth someone's life.
Acid Rain has not been given as much attention as it deserves with respect to its potential dangers, Surface-wise and Subsurface-wise! As appears to be evidenced by this disaster in Florida.
What is the Acid(%) content of the rain in this Florida area? Subsurface Limestone(Calcium Carbonate) and Acidic Solutions(Acid Rain) do not go well together !
they sure gave up on this poor guy pretty fast. he might even still be alive down there. the other day it said that the sinkhole was only 15 feet deep. also that other picture of a sinkhole sure does look fake.
I totally agree! Wouldn't they try to find the man first - then the keepsakes? Of course I know nothing of sinkholes and how dangerous they are either.
Wow, very sad!
It's troubling trying to figure these news stories out, as fact or fiction, unless you are there witness it, and I too wonder why they gave up to soon on the recovery. What I noticed during the interview of those left behind, they starting speaking of the person swallowed up as a distant person, then changed it to being family???
Regardless, if it was my wife, child or close family member, I would have clawed my way to hell, if necessary to save them.
So they raised the home a few feet off of it's foundation to get a better look into the sinkhole? Seems to that it..... Oh, razed, not raised. Nevermind.
I think Casey Anthony needs to spend a very long period of time visiting that neighborhood --- that street in particular. Maybe she too would be swallowed whole; and hopefully suffer the way she made her daughter suffer.
Presumed dead? So sad! My gosh, glad they are retrieving keepsakes, but wouldn't they try to find the brother buried there first? Wow! My condolences to the family.
Well, it's not like he's just down a couple of feet, he'd likely be too far to safely retrieve without a good bit of time, risk and work put into it.
well i kinda agree with that john guy, i was kinda hopin they could at least find a body , an give him a decent burial ,but i guess not,yes the surounding neighbours sure do have a proplem,i hope it wrks out for them all.