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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Ken Herzlich
Aired June 29, 2003 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Another developing story we've been following throughout the morning is the deadly collapse of an apartment building porch in Chicago. There are conflicting numbers this morning, but here is the latest. At least 11 people were killed, 45 others injured. For the latest on this, let's bring in Jeff Flock, live from Chicago.
Good morning, Jeff. Obviously a tough one for people there.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Kris, a lot of questions now being asked as well about just how this took place. Initially, of course, the folks from the city of Chicago saying they thought that there was too many people out on these decks. And perhaps you best see this -- I think this really speaks volumes about what took place here. You see the upper deck having collapsed onto the lower decks and on down through. Apparently people -- a lot of people -- we don't have an exact number at this point -- on both of the decks, as well as perhaps folks down on the ground floor as well.
That's how it all took place. The question is why? Was there simply a matter of this deck being overloaded or perhaps was there an issue of structural flaw on the deck. These decks by the way, and whether you call them decks or porches, it's open to colloquial interpretation.
If you look off to the left, perhaps you see these decks are everywhere in Chicago and probably in a lot of cities, but particularly here off the backs of apartment buildings. A lot of times they're exposed to weather, and oftentimes, take a lot of pounding in terms of the weather and decompose in some way. And so they need to be replaced.
This one, it appears, according to Chicago officials, to have been replaced reasonably recently. And even the decks that you see off to the left that we showed you, those also look fairly new. But were they built safely? That's the question that's being answered -- asked, and hopefully answered at some point.
Now, onto the victims of this. As you said, we've got at least 11, we believe now a dozen dead. And we believe dozens, perhaps as many as 40 or more, still injured. Now, to the hospital where doctors that have been treating some of the injured, talked to reporters just recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a terrible tragedy for us here in the city. However, so far, the response that we've seen has allowed us to adequately evaluate the patients in the field that needed to go to a level one trauma center like we have here at Advocate Illinois Masonic.
So that the proper resources of the city are brought to bear both by the police and the fire department as well as the emergency rooms here in the local emergency rooms. So that patients get adequate evaluation and treatment. And I think we're all very thankful for that. And we're hopeful that we can continue to do everything we can for all of the families that were affected by this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: Indeed, it said, according to the emergency officials, they responded quite rapidly to this. In fact, they had at one point upwards of 100 emergency personnel on the scene here. As we said, we don't know exactly how many folks were at the party that took place on these decks back here. But from what we've been able to learn from folks that were on the scene, certainly the number was at least a 100, if not in the hundreds.
So again, folks sorting that out. First -- one of the first responders, of course, the Chicago of Fire Department. We talked also to the city's Fire Commissioner, James Joyce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES JOYCE, COMMISSIONER, CHICAGO FIRE DEPT: There was chaos. There were people screaming and crying in the alley. There were some -- a number of civilians trying to help remove the people from the pile -- caught in a pile. And there were various injuries. But as they got deeper into the pile of humanity, then they saw the more serious injuries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: James Joyce, the Chicago Fire Commissioner. And city officials expect to be back out here in a bit to update perhaps, on the numbers of injured as well as any investigation. We've seen investigators out here, folks taking Polaroid's and other pictures, trying to determine just how this all played out.
We'll be back to you. That's the latest, Kris. Back to you.
OSBORN: A lot of questions. Thank you very much, Jeff Flock. Certainly no one wants to hear that phrase, "pile of humanity," listening to James Joyce that commissioner there.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: This is true. Well, there was a big party at that Chicago apartment last night. Most of the guests were told were college students.
Journalist, Ken Herzlich was one of the first reporters on the scene. He joins us on the phone from Chicago with more. Ken, we heard a little bit of a subscription, chaotic, pulling bodies out of piles. Tell us what the scene was like when you first arrived.
KEN HERZLICH, JOURNALIST: Well, when I first got there, there were at least a dozen or so people that I could see laid out in the alley. These rear porches led up to an alley, and you can drive your car through. Some people have garages or a carport.
There were people being laid out there. They were trying to triage them, you know, taking the most seriously injured victims out of the scene first, getting them to trauma centers. They were putting on C-collars, those are the white collars that keep people's necks firm and they tape them to a backboard. IV's were being administered.
But in addition to that, there was a tremendous amount of uninjured people that were running back and forth and very upset, and crying and trying to figure out where their friends were or what hospitals they were going to. It was extremely chaotic, and also trying to help a lot of the injured.
ARENA: How difficult was it to remove some of those who were wounded?
HERZLICH: Well, it was relatively tight back there. So you know, they have to just take them one at a time. That's all they can do, you know. Once they did get to some of the people that were further down in the pile, some of those people were dead. So they just put them off to the side and were trying to treat the critically injured.
ARENA: And we see a lot of those small decks on the back of buildings there. I know that you have some Gay Pride celebrations in the city today. Is there a lot of local attention, officials warning people not to overload those decks tonight?
HERZLICH: Yes. As a matter of fact, the Fire Commissioner James Joyce did mention that because this neighborhood is right nearby the street, which would be Halstead Street. Which is where the Gay Pride Parade would be. And during that event, there's a lot of people that hang out on the back porches of some, and he's trying to warn people to not overload them.
Generally, you shouldn't have more than half a dozen people up there, and a couple of chairs and a barbecue grill, anything more than that is usually a stress or overloading them. But in our city in Chicago, all these rear porches generally are constructed out of wood, some better than others. Unfortunately, with this incident, the wood did not look like it was heavy enough to you know, handle these types of loads.
ARENA: Well, I'm sure investigators will get to the bottom of that one.
Ken, thanks so much for joining us again.
HERZLICH: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 29, 2003 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Another developing story we've been following throughout the morning is the deadly collapse of an apartment building porch in Chicago. There are conflicting numbers this morning, but here is the latest. At least 11 people were killed, 45 others injured. For the latest on this, let's bring in Jeff Flock, live from Chicago.
Good morning, Jeff. Obviously a tough one for people there.
JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Kris, a lot of questions now being asked as well about just how this took place. Initially, of course, the folks from the city of Chicago saying they thought that there was too many people out on these decks. And perhaps you best see this -- I think this really speaks volumes about what took place here. You see the upper deck having collapsed onto the lower decks and on down through. Apparently people -- a lot of people -- we don't have an exact number at this point -- on both of the decks, as well as perhaps folks down on the ground floor as well.
That's how it all took place. The question is why? Was there simply a matter of this deck being overloaded or perhaps was there an issue of structural flaw on the deck. These decks by the way, and whether you call them decks or porches, it's open to colloquial interpretation.
If you look off to the left, perhaps you see these decks are everywhere in Chicago and probably in a lot of cities, but particularly here off the backs of apartment buildings. A lot of times they're exposed to weather, and oftentimes, take a lot of pounding in terms of the weather and decompose in some way. And so they need to be replaced.
This one, it appears, according to Chicago officials, to have been replaced reasonably recently. And even the decks that you see off to the left that we showed you, those also look fairly new. But were they built safely? That's the question that's being answered -- asked, and hopefully answered at some point.
Now, onto the victims of this. As you said, we've got at least 11, we believe now a dozen dead. And we believe dozens, perhaps as many as 40 or more, still injured. Now, to the hospital where doctors that have been treating some of the injured, talked to reporters just recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a terrible tragedy for us here in the city. However, so far, the response that we've seen has allowed us to adequately evaluate the patients in the field that needed to go to a level one trauma center like we have here at Advocate Illinois Masonic.
So that the proper resources of the city are brought to bear both by the police and the fire department as well as the emergency rooms here in the local emergency rooms. So that patients get adequate evaluation and treatment. And I think we're all very thankful for that. And we're hopeful that we can continue to do everything we can for all of the families that were affected by this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: Indeed, it said, according to the emergency officials, they responded quite rapidly to this. In fact, they had at one point upwards of 100 emergency personnel on the scene here. As we said, we don't know exactly how many folks were at the party that took place on these decks back here. But from what we've been able to learn from folks that were on the scene, certainly the number was at least a 100, if not in the hundreds.
So again, folks sorting that out. First -- one of the first responders, of course, the Chicago of Fire Department. We talked also to the city's Fire Commissioner, James Joyce.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES JOYCE, COMMISSIONER, CHICAGO FIRE DEPT: There was chaos. There were people screaming and crying in the alley. There were some -- a number of civilians trying to help remove the people from the pile -- caught in a pile. And there were various injuries. But as they got deeper into the pile of humanity, then they saw the more serious injuries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLOCK: James Joyce, the Chicago Fire Commissioner. And city officials expect to be back out here in a bit to update perhaps, on the numbers of injured as well as any investigation. We've seen investigators out here, folks taking Polaroid's and other pictures, trying to determine just how this all played out.
We'll be back to you. That's the latest, Kris. Back to you.
OSBORN: A lot of questions. Thank you very much, Jeff Flock. Certainly no one wants to hear that phrase, "pile of humanity," listening to James Joyce that commissioner there.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: This is true. Well, there was a big party at that Chicago apartment last night. Most of the guests were told were college students.
Journalist, Ken Herzlich was one of the first reporters on the scene. He joins us on the phone from Chicago with more. Ken, we heard a little bit of a subscription, chaotic, pulling bodies out of piles. Tell us what the scene was like when you first arrived.
KEN HERZLICH, JOURNALIST: Well, when I first got there, there were at least a dozen or so people that I could see laid out in the alley. These rear porches led up to an alley, and you can drive your car through. Some people have garages or a carport.
There were people being laid out there. They were trying to triage them, you know, taking the most seriously injured victims out of the scene first, getting them to trauma centers. They were putting on C-collars, those are the white collars that keep people's necks firm and they tape them to a backboard. IV's were being administered.
But in addition to that, there was a tremendous amount of uninjured people that were running back and forth and very upset, and crying and trying to figure out where their friends were or what hospitals they were going to. It was extremely chaotic, and also trying to help a lot of the injured.
ARENA: How difficult was it to remove some of those who were wounded?
HERZLICH: Well, it was relatively tight back there. So you know, they have to just take them one at a time. That's all they can do, you know. Once they did get to some of the people that were further down in the pile, some of those people were dead. So they just put them off to the side and were trying to treat the critically injured.
ARENA: And we see a lot of those small decks on the back of buildings there. I know that you have some Gay Pride celebrations in the city today. Is there a lot of local attention, officials warning people not to overload those decks tonight?
HERZLICH: Yes. As a matter of fact, the Fire Commissioner James Joyce did mention that because this neighborhood is right nearby the street, which would be Halstead Street. Which is where the Gay Pride Parade would be. And during that event, there's a lot of people that hang out on the back porches of some, and he's trying to warn people to not overload them.
Generally, you shouldn't have more than half a dozen people up there, and a couple of chairs and a barbecue grill, anything more than that is usually a stress or overloading them. But in our city in Chicago, all these rear porches generally are constructed out of wood, some better than others. Unfortunately, with this incident, the wood did not look like it was heavy enough to you know, handle these types of loads.
ARENA: Well, I'm sure investigators will get to the bottom of that one.
Ken, thanks so much for joining us again.
HERZLICH: Sure.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
