Work continues to remove debris from Bayshore parking garage

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GLENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Work continues to clear the rubble left behind at Bayshore after a parking garage partially collapsed on Thursday.

Overnight Friday, construction heaters were used, trying to melt the snow off the concrete that fell, but because of the cold temperatures, that made for slow progress.

Friday morning, North Shore Fire & Rescue, the Glendale Police Department and representatives from Cypress, the company that owns Bayshore, met to reevaluate the situation.

"[Cypress is] going to bring in some heavy equipment that will probably be able to remove the pile in the next, hopefully, 24 hours," North Shore Fire & Rescue Chief Robert Whitaker said.

Heavy equipment, including a crane and backhoe, were brought to the site on Friday. Safety of on-site workers is a top priority, the Chief said.

"We want to remove a couple of pieces of concrete that remain hanging from the third deck that didn't come down in the collapse, just to ensure safety. That's their first priority today. Then try to remove some of the pile on the ground," Whitaker said.

Whitaker said that after reviewing surveillance video, his team is confident there were no people under the level when it came crashing down, just two empty cars. Right now, 56 cars are stuck inside of the parking garage with no way out.

"We're comfortable parking here because we never experienced anything like this, nor did we think this was going to happen," Glenn Hall said.

Thursday was supposed to be a regular day at the office for Glenn Hall until his car got stuck inside the structure.

"My car is located on the second level," he said. "There's no way really for me to get out at this point."

Chief Whitaker tells CBS 58 their main priority is removing the rubble to confirm no one is underneath. The rest, including the removal of the cars trapped, is Cypress' responsibility.

Hall said he finally heard from Cypress around noon on Friday.

"They reached out to us and let us know they're just going through the process of investigating what's happening, what's going on, then they want to make sure that the parking structure is safe for us to move our cars," he said.

There is no timeline for when Hall and the 55 other car owners will be allowed to retrieve their vehicles.

"We're praying consistently that they can get it done quicker than that because we can't be without our vehicles for months and months and months. It just doesn't make sense to me," he said.

CBS 58 contacted Cypress for comment on the partial collapse and has not heard back yet.

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