Friday, October 24th, 2025
File Photo/The Daily Standard

Christopher Brown, 41, of St. Marys, perished in the partial building collapse July 31 in downtown St. Marys. Teams from Ohio Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue helped to set up air shores in the basement to stabilize the structure, started searching the rubble from the inside, and eventually employed an excavator to carefully remove rubble. When a piece of clothing was spotted by an elevated spotter, a crew went in to hand dig at the spot, where they found Brown's body. After the rescue mission was complete, the property at 305 E. Spring St. was quickly condemned and completely demolished the same night into a pile of building materials and random household items. An OSHA investigation into the collapse is ongoing.

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