MAHANOY CITY - A vacant property partially collapsed late Saturday afternoon, forcing a family in a neighboring home to evacuate until its safety was evaluated.
The rear half of the property at 302 E. Railroad St., owned by Rolando Horsford, Lansford, and Street Stage Inc., Brooklyn, collapsed mostly onto itself about 5 p.m. Saturday.
"We were out this morning with the engineer from Alfred Benesch and Co., and we are waiting for his recommendations and will act accordingly," borough Manager Daniel Lynch said.
Borough Code Enforcement Officer William Killian III was on the scene shortly after the building collapse.
"As a precaution, the individuals at 300 E. Railroad were removed from their house to stay with relatives overnight until we got the OK from the engineer to return to their house," Killian said.
Living at 300 E. Railroad St. are Paul Markiewicz, 47; his mother, Theresa Markiewicz, 83; and his uncle, Paul Moore, 88. The family was given permission by the engineer to return to their home about 10 a.m. Monday. To the east of the property are garages and an empty lot.
Killian said there have been complaints about the property. He said a prior owner had complaints about a roof leaking, and it was repaired. When the property was sold due to taxes, Horsford purchased the property.
"He has signed for a letter of a notice of violations that stated it was an unsafe structure. He failed to do anything," Killian said. "Actually, that notice probably runs out any day now and we would have begun to cite him."
The engineering inspection will determine what the next course of action will be.
"We know that the affected part has to come down," Killian said. "Our main concern in having the engineer come in was to evaluate the front half of the property to make sure it was safe so it didn't affect the Markiewicz family. There are other things, too. We need to look at the foundation, is there a common wall between the properties, and other considerations that most people don't see."
"If the whole thing had to come down in an emergency, then we're bypassing the bidding," Lynch said. "But maybe only some things need to be done right away and the rest would go out for bid."
On Monday afternoon, the Markiewicz family moved back into the home during a very heavy downpour. After moving back in, Paul Markiewicz said he was at work when the collapse occurred.
"My mother said it sounded like thunder," he said. "When I found out, I left work early. The fire company took a look at our house and they said it looked OK, but they would feel better if we left until the engineer said it was safe."
The collapse was not a surprise, Markiewicz said.
"This was building up for some time," he said. "At one time this was an arts and crafts store with efficiency apartments upstairs. The last time anyone lived here was about 2000."