The images are striking. A Chicago fire engine was left hanging in mid-air for several hours. A disaster was narrowly averted.
Hanging over the edge, only the front bumper was preventing the lorry from crashing onto the level below. According to reports in the American press, it was a large concrete slab beneath the lorry that gave way.
The only firefighter inside the lorry crawled out through the back, whilst his colleagues dealt with the emergency inside the care home.
The lorry weighs over 18 tonnes. To remove it, a large crane was required, and the tank had to be emptied.
Municipal records show that the underground car park was built in the late 1990s and that it was repaired 12 years ago.
