Live Updates: Fire hampers search efforts at Florida building collapse site

A fire was hampering search efforts Saturday at the site of the collapsed apartment building in Surfside, Florida. Teams were using infrared technology, foam and water to fight the blaze, but it was very difficult to isolate its source and stop it, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press conference.

The smoke was the biggest barrier as searchers continued their around-the-clock effort to find any survivors. First responders believe it is still possible people will be found alive. There are crevices in the debris, allowing for airflow, said the mayor. 

The death toll on Saturday remained at four, and 159 people were still unaccounted for — a little more than two days after the condo tower came crashing down while people inside were sleeping. No one has been found in the rubble since Friday morning. 

Officials are now considering evacuating a “sister building” that is down the street from the collapse site, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at the press conference alongside Levine Cava. It was built at the same as the collapsed condo building, with the same designer, he said.

“I don’t know that there’s indications that there’s any problems with that building, but just given the similarities, given the same age, they think that that may be something.”

An engineering report from 2018 warned that the building that collapsed had major structural worries, Mark Strassman reported for “CBS This Morning: Saturday.” It is unclear if any of the issues in the report — from Morabito Consultants — caused the collapse, and it didn’t warn of imminent danger, although it said repairs were needed.

Waterproofing failed under the pool deck and wasn’t properly laid, so water didn’t drain, the report said. “The failed waterproofing is causing major structural damage to the concrete structural slab below these areas. Failure to replaced the waterproofing in the near future will cause the extent of the concrete deterioration to expand exponentially,” it said. 

It also said there was “abundant cracking” in concrete columns, beams and walls in the parking garage.  

Contributing: The Associated Press