A devastating microburst hit the West Phoenix area last Wednesday evening, with wind gusts reported up to 77 miles per hour. The storm downed trees, inflicted severe damage to homes and buildings, and caused a warehouse roof system to fail, trapping a worker in the debris.

It took three days before rescuers were able to recover the body of the victim, identified as 22-year-old Oswaldo Antonio Montoya Torres, who was reportedly operating a forklift at the warehouse when the storm struck and became trapped under the wreckage after the roof collapsed.


As first reported by the Arizona Republic, Torres went missing after the storm wreaked its damage. Firefighters worked 12-hour shifts removing slabs of concrete and debris, using specially trained K-9s, drones and heavy-duty cranes to move the rubble.

Phoenix Fire Capt. Todd Keller said the building was at risk of collapsing, making it challenging for rescue crews to get inside. By Friday, nearly 50,000 pounds of concrete and debris had been removed, with crews focusing search efforts on the center and north sides of the building.

Torres' body was found early Saturday afternoon near the center of the building; the search continued unabated for three days.

Oswaldo Torres, 22, was killed when the roof of a warehouse collapsed on him following a microburst in West Phoenix."Oswaldo was a hard worker. He was working a night shift, just supporting his family (and) taking care of his loved ones," Keller said at a news conference outside the scene of the collapse on Saturday. "This is not the outcome we wanted."

The fire captain described a scene of devastation, calling the roof collapse catastrophic. Keller said that following the roof being blown off, 40-foot-tall racks filled with products were "corkscrewed and piled down." The family of the victim had reportedly been at the scene and were notified of the victim's death. Those who knew Torres said he was a "great" dad, brother, son and son-in-law. 

"We had to obviously use heavy equipment; the complexities of an incident like this is such a large scale," Keller added. "We have cranes, we have Bobcats with grappling attachments, we used ... all of our resources in the fire department."

The meticulous and time-consuming search was due to the fragility of the structure; Keller said the site was considered high risk for rescuers because of a possible secondary collapse. Structural engineers were brought in to work with search crews.

"We are supporting [the family] in every way," Keller said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with them."