CHILLING calls between the first firefighters on the scene of the Miami building collapse last week revealed that the “building is gone” as one compared it to the World Trade Center on 9/11. 

Experts have praised the work of the first responders, claiming they saved many lives with their actions when they first arrived at the collapsed 12-story apartment block in the early hours of Thursday morning. 

Internal radio communication released on Monday gives insight into the horrific scene that met emergency services after the first calls were put in about the tragedy at Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida.

Firefighters are heard insisting it is “high priority” as they describe how only a quarter of the building is left and make plans to evacuate people still waiting upstairs. 

Others added how there were “no elevators” with some residents waiting on balconies to be rescued. 

"Arrival at 88th and Collins. We have a 13-story building with most of the building gone,” an Engine 76 firefighter tells a dispatcher, according to the calls released by NBC 6. 

“It's going to be a high priority. We're going to need TRTs [Technical Rescue Teams], we're going to need a full assignment on this, everybody.

"A quarter of the building is left, we still have people standing upstairs that still need to be evacuated. We are going to need a full TRT assignment."

The same firefighter described to the dispatcher the extent of the damage, stating, "I see many people are the balconies.

“There are no elevators. The building is gone. There are no elevators. It almost resembles the Trade Center," he said. 

A firefighter from Engine 44 said that some residents "said it sounds like they heard a bomb."

"Some people are evacuating,” they added. 

In later calls, firefighters can be heard giving instructions to others arriving at the scene and warning about the danger. 

"Pull up to the light and stop. We need to contain this whole area. This building does not look stable," one states.

“I'm going to start at 19 that they’re up here with the rabbit tools. We will start on the 5th floor and work our way back up,” another tells the dispatcher of the evacuation efforts. 

“56 is with the engineers and they are doing the hale all the way up, knocking hale all the way up.”

Experts listening to the calls said that many lives were potentially saved by the actions of the first units on the scene. 

They commended the firefighters' efforts to establish a secure area and keep other teams safe. 

"There’s no doubt. Not only the victims that were there — the people that needed to be rescued — but maintaining a command and control presence for the units that were coming in," retired City of Miami assistant fire chief Pete Gomez told NBC. 

"You know that we cannot have people going rogue and doing their own thing,” he added. 

“These folks want to go in there and they want to start working and that incident commander, Battalion One and Engine 76 at the beginning, you can tell that they were gaining control of the scene and not allowing people to go rogue because you could have lost firefighters, first responders if you didn't do that."

The search and rescue effort at the site is now in its sixth day, with teams working around the clock on 12-hour shifts.

Rescue units have been using buckets to slowly clear the debris and clear objects that could be used to identify victims.  

Eleven deaths have now been confirmed with more than 150 people still unaccounted for, authorities say. 

President Joe Biden announced that he will visit the collapsed condo building with First Lady Jill Biden on Thursday.   

It comes as shocking pictures show the extensive flood damage inside the apartment block just 36 hours before it collapsed. 

Pictures that were taken by a contractor, who is unnamed, show the flood damage inside the doomed condo.

The garage, located under the pool deck, was frequently flooded with saltwater.

Images show cracks in the concrete columns inside the equipment room and the rebar in the slab can be seen corroding.

An ex-maintenance manager at the doomed condo also revealed the basement was frequently flooded with seawater.

William Espinosa said up to two feet of floodwater could enter the parking lot as it seeped through the building’s concrete structure.

He told CBS: “Any time that we had high tides away from the ordinary, any King Tide, or anything like that we would have a lot of saltwater come in through the bottom of the foundation.”

The cause of the collapse remains unknown but building managers discovered a hole that could’ve been caused by saltwater intrusion, Mail Online reports.

Saltwater is corrosive meaning it can slowly damage concrete and cause rebar to rust.

Residents were reportedly told that the apartment block was in “very good shape” after structural issues were flagged in 2018.

Minutes from a board meeting held in November 2018 appear to show that Surfside building official Ross Prieto told residents that the structure was in "very good shape" – after reportedly receiving the report warning about the structural issues, according to the Miami Herald.

Prieto reportedly wrote in the email: "The response was very positive from everyone in the room. All main concerns over their forty-year recertification process were addressed.

"This particular building is not due to begin their forty-year until 2021 but they have decided to start the process early which I wholeheartedly endorse and wish that this trend would catch on with other properties."

Residents of Champlain Towers sister building’s East and North have been given the option of moving into temporary accommodation while the structures are inspected.

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