A retaining wall collapsed near Oak Bay Avenue and Fort Street on Tuesday, burying a bus stop and forcing the evacuation of a three-storey apartment building.
Ricky de Souza was driving past the intersection about 8 a.m. when he heard a loud noise.
“All of a sudden, my car was being pelted with mud and there was a loud noise and my car was getting hit and being pushed,” said de Souza, who was on his way to work at St. Christopher’s Montessori School. “I didn’t know what was happening.”
He said he managed to pull over and called 911 once he saw the debris. He then got out of his vehicle and started to direct traffic around the eastbound lane, which was covered with mud and rock.
The rock wall that collapsed, along an apartment-building property, was about two metres high and adjacent to the sidewalk on the south side of Oak Bay Avenue, near the intersection with Fort Street and Pandora Avenue.
Police and fire crews rushed to the scene, and were followed by work crews and earth-moving equipment. But removal of the rubble was held up over fears that people might be buried under it.
Search-and-rescue dogs were brought in to give assurance that it was safe for excavators to begin scooping up debris.
Fraser Work, the City of Victoria’s director of engineering, said the sidewalk and eastbound traffic lanes would remain closed until the safety of the remaining wall of earth can be certified.
Shoring might be required but that will have to involve the owner of the apartment-building property, he said.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the City of Victoria said geotechnical analysis had determined residents could safely return to the apartment building.
It was determined debris could be safely removed from the sidewalk and street. Previously, it was thought that the debris could be propping up the remaining bank of earth.
Some of the sidewalk and road will remain closed to complete further geotechnical safety analysis. The city is working with B.C. Transit to move the bus stop.
The reason for the collapse has not been determined, Work said. “It may be a combination of things that caused it.”
Dave Thibault, co-owner with his wife of the apartment building for 30 years, said construction crews were on scene by early afternoon and it looked like the safety of the building would be assured.
Thibault said the apartment building was finished in 1968 and has 13 suites and 14 residents. Most of the tenants are long-term renters who have formed a community, he said. “We have really nice people living here,” Thibault said in an interview outside the apartment. “I’m just concerned about their well-being.”
One resident rushing off to keep an appointment said he was awakened by a loud bang but felt no disturbance, so went back to sleep until it was time for him to rise.
Another resident, five-year tenant Chris Adams, said he had already left for his construction job near Shawnigan Lake when the wall slumped. But at his job site, work was cancelled because of rain, snow and power outages, so Adams set off for home. Before he even arrived, people had contacted him to let him know what had happened.
Held back from re-entering the building by yellow caution tape, he said his biggest fears were for his cat, Bambi, and the possible loss of a good home. “It’s a great building.”
Meanwhile, de Souza said his vehicle had to be towed from the site. He tried to start it up afterward but decided it wasn’t safe to drive it away.
De Souza said the rain might have been a small blessing, keeping people indoors and away from the scene. “That [the rain] probably helped keep people away, because that spot is usually packed with cyclists and people waiting for the bus.”
