A construction worker died in Southampton Village on Monday afternoon when a foundation wall at a work site collapsed, pinning him underneath—and a Southampton Village official said the accident may have been the result of shoddy workmanship and attempts to cut corners on the project.
Facundo Gonzalez, 33, of Farmingville was trapped beneath the fallen concrete wall shortly before 3 p.m. while he was working at a construction site at the southeast corner of North Sea Road and Willow Street. Emergency personnel from Southampton Fire Department, Southampton Village Volunteer Ambulance and the Village Police attempted to resuscitate him after pulling him free.
Mr. Gonzalez was then taken by ambulance to Southampton Hospital to meet a Medevac helicopter that would have transported him to Stony Brook University Medical Center. But the helicopter was called off when he could not be revived and was pronounced dead on the way.
According to Village Police, emergency dispatchers received a 911 call at 2:58 p.m. from another construction worker, who reported that a concrete wall had collapsed, and Mr. Gonzalez was trapped beneath it.
Jon Foster, senior building inspector for Southampton Village, said that the victim had been digging under the wall before the collapse to install footings, structural supports that should have been in place before the concrete wall was poured and the forms were removed.
“They didn’t do the job right,” Mr. Foster said. The concrete wall also should have been reinforced with steel, but it was not reinforced at all, he added. “As they dug the hole, the concrete snapped.”
The wall, which was built on sand, was about 19 feet long and 8 feet high and weighed an estimated 7 tons, Mr. Foster said. “With 14,000 pounds coming down on him, he didn’t stand a chance, which is tragic.”
Mr. Foster said the architectural plan for the foundation had also been altered. Where there should have been a window well for emergency escape access from the basement, a stairwell was being installed instead. “The stairway wasn’t put in yet, but the wall was,” he said.
Rescuers dug beneath the concrete wall, and after 10 minutes they were able to extricate Mr. Gonzalez, police said. At that time, they began CPR and defibrillated Mr. Gonzalez’s heart, Detective Sergeant Herman Lamison said Tuesday.
With an automated external defibrillator still attached to his chest and a brace securing his neck, firefighters and police officers—uniforms dirtied with mud—carried Mr. Gonzalez on a stretcher out of the excavated area to an ambulance.
Mr. Gonzalez was shortly thereafter pronounced dead upon arrival at Southampton Hospital.
Village Police Chief William Wilson said that, though the death was apparently an accident, it was reported to the Suffolk County Homicide Squad. The Village Police routinely notify county homicide detectives whenever there is a death by unnatural causes, he explained. Det. Sgt. Lamison said Wednesday morning that the body is at the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s office, and that the official cause of death will be reported in the coming days.
A sign for Bérube & Son Construction, along with an August 12, 2008, building permit issued to Valerie Revere, who is the property owner, according to town records, were posted at the end of the driveway. Calls to Bérube & Son were not immediately returned.
Det. Sgt. Lamison said Mr. Gonzalez did not work for Bérube & Son, but rather for a concrete company, Saldana’s Concrete Corporation. He said Mr. Gonzalez was working for the concrete company for at least a couple weeks before the accident. Police believe Mr. Gonzalez was from Mexico, but his immigration status is unknown, the detective sergeant said.
Chief Wilson noted that the construction site is being investigated by the village Building Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency charged with enforcing safety and health legislation.
On Tuesday morning, the perimeter of the construction site had been sealed off with police tape, and a stop-work order was posted. Signed by Village Building Inspector Christopher Talbot, the stop work order indicated two violations at the site: “You have failed to comply with the provisions of the New York State building code,” and “A dangerous and unsafe condition exists.”
Behind the police tape, Village Police detectives and OSHA investigators inspected the site.
Illegal aliens are the new American slaves and the system is kept alive and well by unscrupulous contractors, homeowners and community activists because ...more they continue to rationalize an acceptance of illegal activity.
So lets worry about his illegal alien or if he is a slave or not. Let's not worry about if he left a wife behind or how many kids he had. Let's not give a crap about that and lets start talking about illegal activity.
If there is a suggestion that safety precautions at the site were sub-standard because of the contractor's hiring practices, that has yet to be established.
The loss of a life diminishes us -- finger-pointing later.
Are workers seen as "expendable" not given the same safety precautions?
My great grandparents came to this country ages ago & I thank God no one was around back then holding up signs or telling them to go back home. I do not blame folks for trying to make money to send back to their families who are still stuck in countries so poor they are living in huts without running water. I believe all the ...more "white" folks on welfare should be out there as well on the streets looking for work. I recently needed help cleaning out a basement (2 30-yard dumpsters of crap). No legal white guy would touch the job, and the one who said yes advised he couldn't get there for 3 weeks and would charge $2,500. I hired two Guatemalan gentlemen. They showed at 8:00 a.m. the next day & worked their butts off, and charged no where near "Mr. I'm-Here-Legally-So-Pay-Me-100-Times-More-Than-What-I-Am-Worth-So-I-Can-Buy-A-Big-Fat-SUV-Mobile-Home-100" TV-&-Beer." By the way, I need a landscaper & handyman. Any legal white guys out there willing to do same for a REASONABLE amount of money & show up the next day? Didn't think so.
THE CONTRACTORS, HOMEOWNERS AND ILLEGAL ALIEN ENABLERS COULD NOT BE WHERE THEY ARE RIGHT NOW WITHOUT THE HELP OF OUR CROOKED POLITIITIONS. I HOPE THIS SERVES AS A WAKEUPCALL TO ALL WHO WOULD BRAKE THE LAW AND HIRE ILLEGAL ALIENS. MOST ARE VERY YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED, AND MANY MORE WILL BE LED TO THEIR DEATHS BT THESE ...more LAW BREAKERS IF WE DONT STOP THIS KAOS!!!!
The reason your Guatemalan gentlemen could afford to charge you so much less than "Mr. I'm-Here-Legally-So-Pay-Me-100-Times-More-Than-What-I-Am-Worth-So-I-Can-Buy-A-Big-Fat-SUV-Mobile-Home-100" TV-&-Beer" is because they have little or no overhead... They likely share a home with a few relatives and only have to pay $400 or $500 month in rent. Whereas "Mr. I'm-Here-Legally-So-Pay-Me-100-Times-More-Than-What-I-Am-Worth-So-I-Can-Buy-A-Big-Fat-SUV-Mobile-Home-100" TV-&-Beer" most likely ...more owns a home with an outrageous mortgage because he PAYS THE TAXES that pays for your Guatemalan gentlemen's childrens' educations... Your Guatemalan gentlemen
most liklely do not have to worry about paying for their family's health insurance, because "Mr. I'm-Here-Legally-So-Pay-Me-100-Times-More-Than-What-I-Am-Worth-So-I-Can-Buy-A-Big-Fat-SUV-Mobile-Home-100" TV-&-Beer" PAYS THE TAXES that allow your Guatemalan gentlemen access to free healthcare.
I could go on, but I do believe you now have the general idea.
For your information, my workers own their own homes with mortgages and taxes, but have no children. More useless info: they recylce, speak perfect English, grow their own vegetables, and live simply, so they can help others. How quickly we jump to conculsions when it comes to other nationalities. I suppose if I told you I was Irish, you would call me a drunk? My grandmother taught me to treat ALL human beings the same, with respect, and to help those less fortunate. I do ...more not know where this ignornance & hate comes from. You should be ashamed! Not only will I keep the Gonzalez family in my prayers, but I will pray for you as well.
I do not believe that illegals are inherently evil law breakers. Rather, they want to work and provide for their families, get their children an education. All noble causes, that in a perfect world would not be denied to anyone.
But, economically, for every illegal present, that takes away from legal citizens. For every illegal willing to work cheap, that ...more prevents work from going to a citizen who pay taxes, revenue used to pay for public services.
For every child of an illegal family enrolled in school, that may take resources away from children who are citizens. For every illegal seen in an emergency room, those are resources diverted from citizens.
So, the issue is simple. Do we afford non-citizens the same rights as citizens. The current laws and interpretation of the Constitution says yes, all deserve equal treatment. Do we want to continue that or change it?
Lets stop the argument that illegals are evil and lawless, and focus on the defining issue.
And yes, I know that everyone's ancestors came from another country, but that was one hundred to two hundred years ago, when economically the United States needed the labor force and needed to expand its citizenship to grow and compete on a global scale. Absent the economic need for the increase population, I do not believe that we would have accpeted the tired, hungry and poor yearning to break free . . . . .
Today, we are bursting at the seams and are running out of land, water and air and perhaps cannot sustain a significant population increase. Do we curtail immigration to sustain what is left for citizens, or attempt another solution.
Would be interested in everyone's thoughts, peace.
Put yourselves in a different pair of shoes: There's a dead body sitting somewhere in a local morgue, and a family is making funeral arrangements for a guy ...more who was probably just trying to put food on the table for his loved ones.
So go ahead and continue worrying about yourselves while we have one less person on this earth, one who died needlessly.
Your hatred and ignorance are simply overwhelming. Your username is a clear enough indication of where you stand and your all-capital-letter posting serves as further evidence of an extreme and misplaced loathing. Your gut response to the news of the death of a fellow human being is to use his tragedy as a platform for your anger. Pathetic.
Following your posting, I spoke with Brendan O'Reilly, the reporter/photographer at the scene, and confirmed with him that he followed every order he was given by emergency personnel at the scene and absolutely did NOT interfere with any rescue efforts. I would expect nothing else from my reporters.
That said, with respect, I'd like to point out that working journalists have every right to be at the scene to document news as it happens. Courts have regularly ...more agreed. Without question, the rescue operation takes precedent--no responsible journalist would EVER hamper a rescue effort--and the emergency personnel have control of the scene. Although they have access to the scene of a news event, journalists are trained to stay out of the way, but at the same time to capture the drama of the scene as best as they can. I believe Brendan did that in this case.
There is often friction at the scene, due in part to the important and tense work the emergency workers are doing, and also due to a few misconceptions and some confusion about the work we do. Our photographers take a variety of photographs, including, inevitably, some that are simply too graphic to be published. We simply can't handcuff our photographers at the scene--they must be able to document the event, and decisions about appropriateness are made later. We take those decisions very seriously, and I believe we make the right calls almost every time.
I'm going to tackle the subject in more detail in a "Press Box" this week in the newspaper, and we're hoping to meet with the chiefs to further discuss the matter. We certainly don't want there to be any bad blood between us and the remarkable men and women who respond in times of crisis.
the flag in southampton (I can assure you I dont).I did not plan to protest so
long but the way I was treated by the village police,JUSTICE Barbara L Wilson,
my fellow contractors and the illegal aliens who overcrowd that small intersection to steal american jobs,insulted me to the highest level.I would like you to know i've had guns and knives pulled on me,i've had many things throne
at me,i've had people ...more try to beat me up,i've had my civil rights walked all over and have been arrested many times,all because I will not back down and stop protesting illegal immigration.The contractors who hire these illegal aliens and use that advantage to underbid my prices are the reason why my 30 man tax paying company was put out of business. And it is one of the main reasons why this country is in such dire straits. I could go on Bill but i think you get the gist of it.I dont need to get payed i've never received one red cent !! There just comes a time when you have to say enough.
It is the promise of cash that made them "jump the fence".Hold employers responsible for hiring documented workers and create a system where the validity of the paperwork they present to employers can be verified quickly.
Listen, "No Amnesty", by waving that flag out in front of the 7-11, you're really swatting at the symptoms, rather then actively making an effort to cure the problem. To wit:
1) The USA is the land where "the streets are paved with gold" (it may not seem like it lately, but trust me, compared to the rest of the world, it is...). and, immediately to our south lies Mexico, where drug cartels rule the day, the poverty level is appallingly high, the imbalance of wealth is worse ...more than the spead against the NY Jets on any given Sunday, and many people are practically eating dirt.
2) SO... it's already hard enough keeping people from sneaking in to the US to make a living... now add to that equation the fact that your/my/our government publicly turned a blind eye (with a wink and a nudge to the corporate community and the wealthy, hungry for cheap labor) for decades, THEN turned around in mock surprise, saying, "Hey all you illegals are breaking the law"... and what you have is an institutionalized form of MASS ENTRAPMENT.
(more)
Here's some advice... take that energy and actively campaign for your political candidate ...more of choice next election cycle. It will be effort well spent, and you'll actually feel good about participating in that level of the democratic process. Heck, if you have the stomach for it, run for office yourself. I'd bet you could get a good "pitch fork brigade" together.
Regards.
Watching the follow up to this story very closely.
THIS GUY DID NOT HAVE TO DIE.
Best respect, dignity, and prayers to his family.
I am sure that if the photographer knew that he was in the way, he would not be there. However, when you are asked to move out of the way numerous times, by numerous firefighters and EMTs, one would think that he would have gotten the hint that his presence alone was a distraction to the rescue effort.
Understood. Respectfully, I'd say we're there to do a job, just as you are. One reason it's so important to be close is to capture the drama of the scene--in part to let people know the amazing work emergency workers do, as those photos from the scene very effectively portray, I think. But we shouldn't be in the way, no question. As I said, I think it's time for some conversations between the newspaper and the fire, police and ambulance companies to work out some of these ...more issues. We look forward to doing that.