AUBURN – City fire and engineering officials closed a Spring Street apartment building Friday morning after an 8-foot portion of a basement wall collapsed, pinning one man under rubble momentarily.

The man, who declined to be identified and refused medical treatment, had been working to repair the basement wall along the northern end of the building.

“They’ve been having a drainage problem there and they had dug a trench along the outside of the building to help with that,” Fire Prevention Officer Gary Simard said. “Friday, they were digging a similar trench along the inside to put a cement beam and footer there. That would have supported that wall, but it collapsed before they were finished.”

The top 2 feet of the wall collapsed, spilling into the basement with rocks and dirt. The man was pinned a few moments but was able to free himself and escape through the basement bulkhead.

Simard said the city closed the building to all tenants Friday morning, while crews worked to get the rest of the wall supported, but had allowed most of them back in later that day. He expected the remaining units would be open again in a few days.

“They’ll be able to fix it,” Simard said. “They have it supported now, the floor and the other walls, and they’ll just rip out the part that fell in and replace it.”

Simard said city officials asked Pan Am Railways officials to slow the trains on their nearby track while contractors worked to support the building.

“The track is about 50 feet away and you can really feel it rumble as it goes through,” Simard said. The railroad company slowed its trains on the track to 10 mph as it passed through the downtown Friday afternoon.