Timing prevented even worse tragedy

Firefighters dug through rubble, sections of a massive crane were pulled away and displaced residents returned to their homes.

These were the scenes that attracted scores of onlookers in downtown Bellevue on Friday, the day after a 210-foot crane collapsed.

The falling crane caused severe damage to three buildings, including an eight-story office structure and five-story apartment complex. Matt Ammon, a 31-year-old Microsoft attorney, was killed, and the crane operator suffered minor injuries.

No other injuries were reported.

"If this had occurred between 8 and 5, we could have been looking at a tragedy of much farther-reaching consequences," city spokesman Tim Waters said.

Firefighters, rescue dogs sort through debris

About 30 firefighters, armed with shovels, chainsaws and face masks, sifted through large piles of rubble, wood, insulation and concrete at the accident scene Friday.

Firefighters and rescue dogs were "99.9 percent sure" no other victims were trapped inside, Bellevue Fire Chief Mario Trevino said.

The tower of the crane crashed into the Plaza 305 office building next to the construction site, tearing away the entire northeast corner of the building.

The long front end of the crane's horizontal boom swung across 108th Avenue Northeast and tore into three apartments in the Pinnacle BellCentre apartment complex. The boom destroyed the living room of the top-floor apartment, where Ammon lived, and hit the balconies of the two apartments below. Several apartments were damaged, with some sustaining water damage.

The back end of the boom, which included a large concrete counterweight, swung into the north side of the Civica Office Commons, an eight-story office building next to Plaza 305. The boom punched two large holes in the building and scraped off part of the wall.

Residents go home: "We're a little nervous"

Residents, some carrying plastic bags, were allowed back inside all but four apartments in Building A of Pinnacle BellCentre on Friday night.

Some residents whose apartments were not damaged planned to stay the night. Others were assessing their damaged apartments and considering staying the night at a nearby hotel.

"It's a little eerie," said David Kang, 32, whose apartment had water damage. "We're a little nervous, and hearing the banging of workers and vacuuming of people cleaning up makes us tense up."

About 30 people were evacuated Thursday from the building. The displaced residents stayed with neighbors, family or at the Bellevue Hilton and Red Lion Inn at their landlord's expense, complex managers said.

Employees did not return to Plaza 305, which was heavily damaged, while 75 percent of Civica Office Commons was up and running. Employees at Morgan Stanley financial services on the top floor gazed down at a hole in the building just a few feet below.

Crews dismantle, remove tangled metal

While scores of bystanders looked on, private contractors took just a few hours to clear away the front end of the boom. They used two smaller, portable cranes to pull the boom away from the apartment complex and parallel with the street.

The workers then used torches to cut through a large gnarled section at the end of the boom that had hit the apartments, and unbolted the rest of the boom into four sections. They drove the sections away on flatbed trucks.

Despite the fast work, 108th Avenue between Northeast Second and Fourth streets is expected to be closed through the weekend and possibly later, said Waters, the Bellevue spokesman. Investigators must still examine the scene, and large parts of the crane remained across buildings and sidewalks Friday.

Reporters Peyton Whitely, Sonia Krishnan, Rachel Tuinstra and Elizabeth Rhodes contributed to this report. Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com