Granite City Staff Frees 6 People Trapped in Collapsed Tires Plus

This is a story of everyday heroic action. Hundreds of similar heroics of selflessness like this have been happening over the past seven days in Eastern Iowa.

Dynnell Shirer started her day Monday doing ordinary things. By 12:30 p.m. she was at Tires Plus on First Ave. Then Derecho struck with full force. The building she was in took a direct hit, collapsing the ceiling and walls around them.

Dynnell's first thought was to thank her lucky stars it wasn't worse. Everyone with her was safe and unharmed. A frightening and surreal moment, to realize you're surrounded by rubble, which was just moments ago a Tires Plus store.

After the storm had passed, the seven remained trapped in the store's restroom unable to clear the fallen debris to free themselves.

Granite City is across from Tires Plus at Collins Rd and First Ave. SE in Cedar Rapids. When employees saw the damage that Tires Plus sustained, they raced over to help remove debris and blockage, to help free Dynnell and 6 others to safety.

Special thanks to Facebook friend Josh Blizzards who shared Dynnell's original post on the Iowa Derecho Storm Resource Page:

I want to take this moment to say thank you to all the people at granite city across from where tires plus use to stand for helping me, my boyfriend, his 5 year old daughter, three other employees and a customer get out of the bathrooms where we were stuck in for 45 minutes to an hour because of the collapsed building all around us left us trapped. And also getting us dry shirts and towels to drive off and some water i am forever grateful.
- Dynnell Shirer

For Dynell and six others trapped it's a feeling of gratitude they'll always have for the workers at Granite City.