Residents of a brick building on Orange Street were forced out of their homes Sunday night, October 11, when a large section of the building’s front wall collapsed onto the sidewalk, according to the Chelsea Fire Department and Boston television stations. No one was hurt.
The wall came down at about 8:30 p.m., NBC Boston reported. Firefighters called it a “significant front structural collapse.” Neighbors told WHDH they heard the bricks come crashing down.
“The whole front of the building collapsed, some serious structural instability in the building, so we evacuated all the residents,” Deputy Fire Chief Robert Denning told WHDH. Crews shut off power and gas, and the displaced residents waited out the rain on an MBTA bus brought to the scene, according to the reports.
The department used its new drone unit to look at the damage from above. “It’s actually showing us that there’s some real structural damage to this building, and it is in danger of coming down,” Denning told WHDH Sunday night. Boston 25 News later reported that the fire chief said there was no concern of a further collapse.
Orange Street was closed for several hours and reopened to traffic by 6:30 a.m. Monday, NBC Boston reported. Building inspectors were still at the scene Monday morning, and the cause had not been determined.
The reports did not give the building’s address or say how many people live there or where they will stay. We have not seen a statement from the city about the collapse. This story will be updated if more is known.
File photo: Chelsea’s fire chief at a September 3 ceremony.