Homemade retaining wall collapses, homes below evacuated

A man’s homemade retaining wall on the west side of Colorado Springs was meant to help his neighbors below, but their worst fears were realized when some of the boulders came tumbling down Tuesday night.

KRDO NewsChannel 13 first reported on the wall in June 2014. The man who built the wall, Steve Hennings, said he was trying to prevent mud from flowing down the steep hill on his property on 26th Street. But neighbors were concerned that the 2,000-pound boulders he was using might tumble into their homes.

After steady rain Tuesday, part of the wall collapsed and boulders came crashing down.

“We knew this was going to happen,” said Ricky Zook. “It was just a matter of time before they all started tumbling down the hill.”

Zook’s grandson, Blake Neri, was home with his sister when he heard the rockslide.

“I was sitting there in my room and I heard my little sister screaming, ‘The rocks are coming down. The rocks are coming down,'” Neri said. “You could hear those boulders coming down off the hill and it sounded just like thunder.”

Two homes below the slide were evacuated Tuesday night and there is no estimate as to when residents will be allowed back home. City crews are assessing the rock wall and building a temporary wall at the bottom of the hill to stop boulders from entering the road or crashing into homes.

“We were lucky,” Neri said. “People could have gotten hurt. My little sister, my dog, me. It could have been a lot worse than it was and I thank God it wasn’t.”