BOSTON (WHDH) - The brick facade of a building in Roxbury collapsed onto the sidewalk Wednesday afternoon.
The facade collapsed near the intersection of Norfolk Avenue and Hampden Street. The Boston Fire Department and Boston Inspectional Services were on the scene.
SKY7-HD spotted the mound of hundreds of bricks piled on the sidewalk next to the affected building.
“I just heard a loud crash and I looked outside and the building, the bricks came down. I don’t know, it just happened so fast,” said neighbor Teshara Taste. “I just opened my door and then a gush of dust just came through. Then I just closed the door really quickly, went to the window, and saw a whole bunch of bricks.”
The building, which bears the name of Iron Mountain, a records management company, appeared to have a number of cracks in other spots.
Neighbors were grateful that no one was hurt.
“Usually there are people walking back and forth a lot, and luckily, there was nobody. There was no cars, no people walking by, and thank God for that,” Taste said.
A city inspector was working with the building’s owner on Wednesday to figure out a plan moving forward. The cause of the facade crash remained under investigation.
In a statement on Thursday, Iron Mountain said “The safety and wellbeing of our community is our top priority, and we are actively working with the city inspector.”
“The building is currently unoccupied and thankfully no one was injured,” the statement continued. “We appreciate the quick response and assistance from the local agencies. A review is currently underway.”
The chief of staff of Boston’s Inspectional Services Department shared a separate update Thursday, saying officials required the property owner to work with a structural engineer “to assess the structural integrity of the building and its facade and prepare a report and plan for repair.”
Chief of Staff Chris English said officials expect the assessment and planning process to be completed “within the next 24 hours.”
In the meantime, English said officials were issuing an unsafe and dangerous violation to the property owner and monitoring the site.
“We’ll be working with the property owner to ensure that necessary repairs are made,” he said.
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