The victims fell to the ground floor of the warehouse along with tons of steel and rubble.

The victims fell to the ground floor of the warehouse along with tons of steel and rubble.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Two men were seriously injured when a floor inside a warehouse on Henricks Road collapsed Tuesday, and 15 firefighters narrowly escaped a second collapse.
The accident happened about 2:30 p.m. in part of the building used by Penn Ohio Logistics when a cable snapped on a crane that was carrying a load of steel, said James Hughes, an employee of Kundel Industries.
Kundel is on the ground floor of the two-story warehouse facility. The top floor is occupied by Penn Ohio, where the crane was operating.
Hughes said the steel from the crane fell onto an elevated floor in the warehouse, and that floor collapsed. The men who were hurt were caught in the collapse, falling to the ground floor along with the steel and rubble, Hughes said.
The names of the injured were not released.
Tons of steel
Austintown Fire Chief Andrew Frost said there were "tons and tons" of large pieces of steel stored on the floor that collapsed. He said the collapse buried one of the men and half-buried the other one.
Frost said that while firefighters were involved in the rescue, a second collapse almost buried about 15 of them.
"We almost lost a lot of firemen," he said, fighting to hold back his emotions. He said the firefighters had only seconds to escape.
Both victims were taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, Frost said Tuesday evening. He had no word on their conditions.
One of the men was airlifted to the hospital.
One Youngstown firefighter suffered a knee injury, Frost said.
Howland, Canfield and Youngstown fire departments assisted Austintown.
At the scene, Awilda Rivera of Youngstown said she heard on the radio about a floor collapsing in the building and went to the site to get her husband, Hector.
Hector Rivera, 49, who works for Kundel, said he was on the lower floor when the collapse happened. He heard the crash and went outside, he said. He was not hurt. Other family members of Kundel workers continued to arrive on the scene after 4 to make sure their loved ones were safe.
Closed down
Frost said he does not believe the building is safe, and he closed it. "A lot of the floor is weak in there."
He said he does not know how many workers were in the building at the time of the collapse.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was to determine if the building could be reopened.
Frost said he was meeting with OSHA representatives later Tuesday evening. He said that OSHA would continue its investigation today, and that the county engineer's office would also inspect the building today.
The building, at 3710 Henricks Road, is the former site of Youngstown Steel Door.
Two life-flight helicopters were on hand to transport the injured, but only one man was flown to a hospital.
Vindicator police reporter Patricia Meade contributed to this report.