BOISE, Idaho — Within an hour of a live news conference from city officials addressing the deadly airport hangar collapse, the steel construction company building the hangar at the time of the collapse confirmed that one of the three men killed was the brother of the company owner.
Craig Durrant, 59, was among those killed Wednesday evening after an airport hangar in the process of being built, collapsed. He is the brother of the owner of Big D Builders, Inc. Durrant was listed as a director of the company in a 2021 state filing.
"Words cannot describe our pain and sorrow since Wednesday evening," read part of the statement provided by a representative for Big D Builders. "We have lost family members and valued employees who were close personal friends."
Durrant, along with Mariano Coc Och, 24, and Mario Sontay Tzi, 32, were identified by the Ada County Coroner's Office Friday.
Nine other people were injured in the collapse. Boise Fire Department said five of those nine are in critical condition.
Ada County Paramedics Chief Shawn Rayne stated in a news conference Friday that within 12 minutes there were six ambulances on scene, along with supervisory personnel. He said Canyon County provided two additional ambulances and a private ambulance company sent three more.
According to Idaho Secretary of State records, Big D Builders has been operating in the valley since 1996 and were the contractors working on the building. The hanger was located at West Rickenbacker Street and Luke Street.
Inland Crane was hired to assist Big D Builders in the building construction. According to a statement from Jeremy Haener, Vice President of Inland Crane, a crane was working to place an end truss when the hangar collapsed "due to an unknown structural failure."
Haener said the crane boom snapped on impact. Inland Crane originally had four cranes at the location to build the hangar, but the steel erection contractor requested three of the cranes be removed because most of the work was done by Wednesday afternoon.
By Friday morning the building was still fenced off by police. Wright Street is still closed between West Rickenbacker Street and Orchard Street.
There is no additional information on the conditions of the surviving victims, due to privacy rights and an OSHA investigation.
Big D Builders statement in full:
"Words cannot describe our pain and sorrow since Wednesday evening. We have lost family members and valued employees who were close personal friends. We have also had colleagues experience significant injuries. Behind our company name is a small Idaho-grown, family-owned business, and we are grieving deeply with our community.
We are committed to working with OSHA and others to determine exactly why the structure failed and collapsed. We appreciate the time and understanding as we work with investigators as well as tend to our loved ones as we try to process this tragedy. We want to thank our community's first responders who moved quickly into action to help our team on Wednesday evening. We are grateful to you for your expertise and service to our communities."
Inland Crane statement in full:
"Inland Crane is shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic incident that led to the loss of lives at a construction site in Boise on Wednesday, January 31. We mourn the loss of our partners, friends, and colleagues and offer our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.
Inland Crane was hired to provide crane services for a hanger being constructed at Jackson Jet Center in Boise. Beginning Monday, January 29, four cranes were used to help erect the structure. This work was largely completed by the afternoon of Wednesday, January 31, and three of four cranes were removed from the job site at the direction of the steel erection contractor. At the time of the accident, the final crane was in service to place an end truss. When the building collapsed due to an unknown structural failure, the crane boom— the hydraulic arm of the equipment—snapped on impact.
Based on accounts of Inland Crane operators, construction workers on site, and the steel erecting contractor, we believe that no action by Inland Crane operators or the crane itself were cause for the structural failure of the hanger. Officials are still investigating the cause of the tragic accident. The well-being of our team is our utmost concern. While the collapse of the structure broke a crane, the crane operator and our team on site were not injured. We arranged counseling services for our team members and will continue to support them through this challenging time."
Watch more Local News:
See the latest news from around the Treasure Valley and the Gem State in our YouTube playlist:
HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET NEWS FROM KTVB:
Download the KTVB News Mobile App
Apple iOS: Click here to download
Google Play: Click here to download
Watch news reports for FREE on YouTube: KTVB YouTube channel
Stream Live for FREE on ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching 'KTVB'.
Stream Live for FREE on FIRE TV: Search ‘KTVB’ and click ‘Get’ to download.