new report on walkway collapse that killed como firefighter

Police reports show that a firefighter killed in a Columbia walkway collapse was going door-to-door looking for trapped residents apparently because emergency responders thought they were dealing with a roof collapse.

Lt. Bruce Britt was on the second-floor walkway of University Village Apartments, a University of Missouri-run apartment complex, when the walkway collapsed Saturday morning. Britt, a 23-year veteran of the force, was pronounced dead at a hospital. No residents were injured.

Details of the Saturday collapse are included in incident reports provided by the university police after a public records request.

According to the reports of several officers, dispatchers said residents were trapped inside an apartment. Responders didn’t know which apartment and later discovered the walkway was close to collapse.