KTLA

Crane collapses into Rancho Palos Verdes home with 2 people inside

A large crane tipped onto the roof of a Rancho Palos Verdes home, causing major damage, on Monday afternoon.

Around 4 p.m., the crane tipped over and landed on the roof of a one-story home on the 30000 block of Cartier Drive, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said.

No injuries were reported, according to the department, though two people were inside the home.

“The crane was actually here to install a solar field, which are solar panels, just not on the roof of the structure,” said Henry Narvaez, spokesperson for the department. “The solar panels are in the backyard and they’re mounted to metal posts or columns. And those columns were being carried from the street over the structure, into the backyard, when the accident occurred.”

Sky5 aerial video showed a truck at the base of the crane tipped over to its side, in front of the home. The crane appeared to be smashing into the roof of the house, hanging over into the backyard.

Magda Kispal, 81, told KTLA at the scene that she owns the home and was inside with her husband at the time of the incident.

“It was horrendous movement and noise,” Kispal said. “The movement was so bad, I thought it was an earthquake.”

Her husband, 73-year-old John Kerwin, said they were just feet away from where the crane was coming down. “[It] sliced right through the center of our house,” he said.

“Had it continued, it would have had us,” Kerwin said, adding that it sounded like “one nice heavy earthquake.”

The panels were to be installed by the pool rather than on the roof because Kispal didn’t want the roof shingles to get damaged.

“She didn’t want the roof messed up,” Kerwin said chuckling.

Crews were working to assess the structural integrity, according to the fire department.

The state Division Of Occupational Safety and Health was responding to clear the scene, Narvaez said, and the crane company was planning to bring another crane to lift the collapsed one off of the structure.

“It’s very amazing that no one was injured,” Narvaez said.

The Red Cross is helping house the couple until their home is fixed.