A two-car garage in Des Moines collapsed as it was being dismantled Wednesday afternoon, killing one of the workers who was inside. She’s identified as 46-year-old Cindy Thomas of Des Moines. City fire inspector Ted Jefferson hesitated to say it was the crew’s demolition tactics that caused the structure to fall in on itself. Jefferson says “I don’t know if they adhered to basic building principles or not. That’s still under investigation.” Upon viewing the wreckage, another city official said appears the crew made a significant error, taking the garage apart from the bottom up, stripping the walls to the studs and leaving the heavy shingled roof intact. Jefferson tentatively agreed. Jefferson said he didn’t want to speculate on the cause of the accident but said “When the roof collapsed and there’s no support underneath it, well you can kinda’ take it from there.” Another member of the demolition crew was on the roof when the garage fell apart. He had minor injuries.
