Chesterfield County authorities are expecting to complete their search of the wreckage from yesterday's building collapse in Chester. No other victims have been found.

At that point, officials will switch from search mode to investigation into what caused the collapse and the death of one construction worker.

By last night, authorities confirmed that one man was found dead and one man was injured in a 60-foot section of the building that collapsed about noon. The dead man was identified as Scott Giordano, 38, of Disputanta in Prince George County.

Authorities said Giordano was the one worker whose whereabouts could not be verified after the collapse at Chester Village Green, a mixed-use development under construction off West Hundred Road near Chester Road.

Chesterfield building inspector William D. Dupler said this morning that inspection records for the property will not be made public until after his staff discusses them with police.
 
"At this point, the police are investigating a death," Dupler said.

The injured man, whose identity was not released, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Dennis Harden, a project manager for A. Pertozzi Inc., a drywall company working inside the building, said one of his crew members possibly broke a leg when some drywall fell during the collapse.

The cause of the collapse was under investigation. Building officials from Chesterfield County were assessing the situation, said Lt. Matt Coffin, spokesman for Chesterfield Fire & EMS.

Cindy Martin, who works at Cotas Barber Shop in another section of the development, said she saw the structure collapse.

"It just went, whooosh! It was so fast," Martin said as she stood near the Chester Library across from the rubble.

Martin said she saw a dozen or more workers flee from the building as it crumbled.

"They came running out fast," she said. "There was so many of them, you couldn't keep count."

. . .

Fire Marshal Robbie Dawson said that if police determine the death to be accidental, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration will be brought in. He said he did not know when a cause might be determined.

Dawson said the search was halted last night because of concerns that rainwater would further destabilize the structure, but he said the search would resume this morning.

The front section of the second floor and roof collapsed to ground level, pancaked the first floor, and badly buckled an attached building in the development.

The collapsed building, which was about 80 percent complete, featured retail space on the first floor and housing above.

"There's a major compromise in the structural integrity," Coffin said. "Due to the instability, this is not a fast operation."

Authorities initially feared that as many as 12 workers were trapped in the building.

"There were construction workers operating at the scene when the collapse occurred and, of course, there was confusion here and people were dispersed," Coffin said.

Several officials indicated later they believed only one person had died, and by 7:30 p.m., authorities confirmed they were not searching for anyone else specifically. But authorities continued to push hard last night -- just in case.

"We're going to be in rescue mode until we've cleared the building -- until we've looked in every place inside this collapsed structure where a victim could be," Dawson said.

. . .

Early in the search, rescue workers inserted highly sensitive microphones into the rubble to listen for movement or cries for help, Coffin said.

At several points during the afternoon, authorities sounded a single blast from an air horn -- a signal to rescue workers to stop immediately what they're doing. That allowed crews with microphone booms and listening devices to detect any movement inside the building.

Later, authorities brought in dogs that can pick up the scent of humans, and they were led over sections of the exterior debris.

More than 100 police and rescue personnel converged on the site, including fire department technical rescue teams from Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties. Lumber was brought in to shore up sections of the building if survivors were located.

. . .

Several contracting officials associated with the project said they believed most, if not all, of their workers escaped safely.

"I've talked to the framers, the electrician, the HVAC people -- and they all said everybody's out and accounted for," Harden said.

Robin Kuhn, owner of Old Time Concrete, said none of his eight workers suffered a scratch. They were pouring concrete handicap ramps leading to the building's rear front porch.

The building fell as workers were breaking for lunch.

"I don't know how many more people would have been in the building had it not been lunchtime," Harden said.

The collapsed building is owned by Barney McLaughlin, president of the Chester-based McBar Realty Group Ltd., according to George Emerson, owner of Emerson Companies, which developed much of Chester Village Green.

"I'm just so sorry it happened," Emerson said. "It's a terrible tragedy."

McLaughlin could not be reached for comment yesterday.

At the McBar Realty Group this morning, a man who didn't provide his name said, "There's nothing to discuss right now. Anyone with any good sense wouldn't be commenting right now."

. . .

Chester Village Green is an example of so-called new urbanism development -- areas that emphasize walkability as well as a mix of commercial uses and housing types.

Mark and Joy Cheek have been living for more than a year in Chester Village Green in a condominium built over a storefront by the same developer. Mark Cheek was at home at the time of the collapse and "heard a loud noise, looked out the front door and saw people running out," Joy Cheek said by phone.

She said workers had no idea what went wrong. "They just heard it crack. Obviously, some beams were giving away for it to crack like that. Everything just fell like a domino effect."
Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or mbowes@timesdispatch.com.

Staff writers Katherine Calos, Linda Dunham, Joe Macenka, Michael Martz and Jeremy Slayton contributed to this report.