Florida sinkhole home demolished; search called off

SEFFNER, Fla. (KFSN) -- The effort to rescue the Florida man who was swallowed by a sinkhole in his own home has been called off.

Crews wrapped up demolition of the home which is sitting over the huge sinkhole. 37-year-old Jeff Bush is presumed dead after the earth opened up and swallowed him and everything else in his bedroom.

County officials said they wish they could have done more but they simply could not have risked any more lives. The official search for Jeff Bush's body has ended. The reality is that no one had been inside that house since Thursday when the sinkhole opened.

What the officials were doing, however, was testing the area with electronic devices, listening devices, and ground penetrating radar, to see if they could find where there was stability. They needed to know if there was enough stability to get back into the house to search for the body, but that did not happen.

Officials moved to what they called a "demolition phase." They brought in some heavy equipment and started the demolition process of the sinkhole home. Now, one of the engineers, who is also a sinkhole expert, said that the sinkhole is very unique.

Ardaman & Associates Ross Mcgillivray said, "This is an incredibly unusual condition. I've been doing this a long time and I have never seen a sinkhole like this."

The sinkhole measured about 20 feet wide and 50 feet deep officials said. But if there is any good news, they are saying that beyond the initial house they do not believe from the testing of the soil that any other houses would be compromised.

Officials also said, that it is very unlikely that any of the people living in the nearby three houses next to the sinkhole will ever go inside their own homes again.

Get more National/World »

national/world

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•