A multi-level parking garage that partially collapsed in Dearborn, Michigan, is closed and the city has begun the legal process allowed by state law to demolish the privately owned structure due to alleged hazardous conditions.
A cause for the collapse of the three-story structure attached to a vacant office building has not yet been determined.
“The city has formally asked the site owner to conduct a structural engineering analysis to assess the current condition of the building as well as the circumstances that may have led to the partial collapse of the site,” a city spokesman said.
The second-to-first floor collapse of the north side of the garage at Outer Drive and Garrison Place occurred around 8:45 p.m. Feb. 6, trapping a 19-year-old man inside his Ford Escape vehicle. The man was rescued unharmed about two hours later.
“It was a complete pancake collapse with two sections of about 40,000 square feet, weighing 40,000 pounds. [around the man’s vehicle]” said Dearborn Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Kelly Meister.
He said the situation would have been worse if the debris had fallen 6 inches in any direction closer to the man who had slipped under his wheel.
He said the rescue team used Paratech Struts to support the concrete while the rescue took place, in 3°F weather.
“We had to support the cross beam on the second floor because we were working directly under it,” he said. “We saw the beam separating from the mast.”
A Paratech strut is a telescopic, high-strength metal support point used to stabilize damaged or compromised structures during rescue operations.
Following the collapse, the City directed the property owner to immediately stabilize the deck to prevent further damage,” a City spokesperson said. “If the stabilization is successful and the structure is deemed safe, the owner is responsible for coordinating the safe removal of the vehicles.”
In July 2025, the building owner was issued a stop work order and fined for unauthorized work in the garage. Plans submitted in late October to the city were denied because the owner failed to provide required details about the scope of the work and a structural analysis, the city said.
As the plans were insufficient, the council does not know what type of work was planned. It also does not conduct after-hours structural engineering inspections of these structures unless there is an inciting event, but the building department. staff had become aware of the unauthorized work being done last summer.
The office building attached to the parking lot suffered a fire in 2021 and has been vacant and uninhabited since then, eliminating the need for an interval inspection, the city said.
According to a local news report, the structure is owned by GJ Ramz Acquisition LLC. Mo Beydoun, an attorney representing the owner, did not respond to a request for comment from ENR.
A 19-year-old man was rescued from a partially collapsed garage in Dearborn, Michigan. The cause of the collapse has not yet been determined.
Video courtesy of the Dearborn Fire Department.
The parking lot is on the west side of Dearborn in a commercial area with office buildings that date back to the 1980s.
Meister said it is “no miracle” that the man involved in the collapse was not injured.
He said first responders could hear him calling for help and followed the sound of his voice.
