AP Photo/Star Tribune, Heather Munro The Interstate 35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday, plunging several vehicles into the water below. "I just heard a noise, I couldn't even describe it," said Josh Peterson, a Stillwater native who now makes a home in Minneapolis.

STILLWATER - Lake Elmo native Jon Cole was sleeping in his Northeast Minneapolis condominium on Wednesday evening, still recovering from working the overnight shift at Hennepin County Medical Center.

He awoke to answer a phone call from a friend and shortly into their conversation, his friend told him the Interstate 35W bridge had just collapsed.

"That's when I looked out my window and saw the plumes of dark black smoke," said Cole, who lives about four blocks northwest of the bridge. "I threw on a pair of scrubs, grabbed my work bag, and rode my bike across the river."

At about 6:10 p.m. Wednesday, the I-35W bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River, plunging several vehicles into the water 64 feet below. At least five people were killed and 79 injured in the disaster.

Officials identified the dead as Sherry Engebretsen, 60, of suburban Shoreview; Julia Blackhawk, 32, of Savage; Patrick Holmes, 36, of Moundsview; and Artemio Trinidad-Mena, 29, of Minneapolis.

Cole, 28, said he didn't fully realize the gravity of the event until he rode out onto the Stone Arch Bridge and saw the remains of I-35W.

"I saw the bridge in the river, and that is when it really hit me that this was truly an incredible disaster for the community," he said. "I was shocked, and so were a lot of other people who had gathered to watch the scene. It was eerie."

Meanwhile, driving below the Stone Arch Bridge on West River Road, Stillwater native Josh Peterson's drive home was interrupted by a booming crash behind him. As he glanced into his rearview mirror, Peterson realized the bridge usually above him during his daily commute was no longer in sight.

"I just heard a noise, I couldn't even describe it," Peterson said, recalling the horrific events. "I could see the dust and whatever up in the air in my rearview, so I turned around. I could definitely tell it didn't sound good.

"I heard it over my radio and I had my radio pretty loud at the time. It was just a loud bang," he said. "I was pretty aware right away it was something wrong. I drive under the bridge everyday."

Peterson, about four blocks away at the time of the crash, immediately drove back to the scene, becoming one the first responders to the wreckage, along with a few bikers, pedestrians and Minneapolis Police.

Reaching the riverbank, he scanned the water for any submerged vehicles. Finding none, Peterson began helping people off of the concrete rubble.

"Everyone was pretty quiet, most people were just in shock. They didn't know what was going on," Peterson said. "There was more emotion coming out of the bystanders than the people coming off the bridge - they were just in a state of shock."

After a few minutes, police and emergency crews hurriedly rushed people off of the razed bridge, concerned that a burning truck on the crumbled bridge might explode.

"I was just trying to figure out in what way I could help, right in my direct area most of the people I saw were OK," Peterson said. "I tried to get up onto the bridge, but that's when cops started rushing people off."

At about that same time, Stillwater resident Andy Knaak was driving on the Stone Arch Bridge. Going to a concert at the Minnesota Zoo, his family had considered taking Interstate 35E, but eventually decided I-35W would be fine.

"We saw all of that road construction and thought, 'Aw gosh, this is a bad idea.' And then traffic came to a dead stop," Knaak said.

Seconds later, police cars zoomed past and Knaak saw smoke and dust billowing ahead. The group exited the freeway and discovered the catastrophe one they turned onto University Avenue.

"I thought, 'Oh my god, there's no bridge,' and then there was the semi on fire. Seeing that sight I almost felt nauseous," Knaak said. "The idea that the bridge, with all those people and cars on it could have fallen, you couldn't fathom it. I can't describe something like that. I've never seen a disaster like that. It looked like you were watching a movie and the director was going to yell, 'Cut!'"

Minutes after the collapse, emergency crews began helping victims and trying to find any survivors. The Washington County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday sent two boats and a dive team to assist the first responders. Although the dive team was told to standby, Washington County deputy Vue Thao hooked up with a lieutenant from the Minneapolis Police Department and joined rescue efforts. He was able to pull someone from the river who had run from a car on the collapsed bridge.

"He told me, 'As long as I was there, I was going to get to work,'" Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton said this morning. "He said it was like a scene from L.A., meaning connected to an earthquake."

At presstime today, Thao was on the Mississippi River trying to find any survivors or victims who still may be submerged. Eight Washington County divers are also assisting with efforts.

Running late,

at the right time

Both Knaak and Peterson were off their normal schedules on Wednesday, which may have allowed them to avert disaster.

"After, I thought, 'Wow, if I would have dilly-dallied with getting home I could have certainly been underneath that," Peterson said.

He lives and works about a mile from the site and crosses under where the bridge formerly stood several times a day.

Knaak's trip was a random trek to a concert, making him realize over the past two days how lucky he really was.

"I try not to think about whether or not we could have been on that bridge, but its such a scary thought. I mean - 64 feet to the water."

Is the Lift Bridge safe?

After bridge inspection ratings that called the I-35W bridge "structurally deficient" surfaced, lawmakers called for increased review of bridges across the state, especially those similar to the construction of the collapsed bridge.

Surprisingly, many bridges have been labeled structurally deficient, though safety officials urged the public not to read too much into the designation. More than 70,000 bridges across the country have been given such an evaluation.

The I-35W bridge had a sufficiency rating of 50, while the Historic Stillwater Lift Bridge was given a rating of 42.8 during an inspection last May. A Star Tribune article reported a 2.8 sufficiency rating for the Stillwater bridge, but those numbers were from 2005, before a $5 million repair project was completed.

Minnesota Department of Transportation Bridge Project Manager Jim Lilly said the lift bridge deck measures an 8.0 on a nine-point scale, while the bridge superstructure and substructures were each rated at 6.0. Structurally the bridge is in "good shape," he said. The sufficiency rating accounts for geometric factors, such as the close river level crest below the bridge and the narrowness of the structure.

"When you have things like sufficiency rating, you could have a bridge that is in very good shape, that is still geometrically constrained," Lilly said.

Locals and travelers alike should feel at ease crossing the Stillwater Lift Bridge, MnDOT engineer Todd Clarkowski said.

"The lift bridge is a safe crossing between our states," he said.

Gazette reporter Andrew Wallmeyer and The Associated Press contributed to this article.