Fire crews investigate partial building collapse on West Atlantic
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL PHOTO - Shenandoah fire marshals look over a set of properties in the 300 block of West Atlantic Street after a partial collapse early Monday morning.
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
SHENANDOAH – Woken up by the sound of cracking and creaking boards, members of a Shenandoah family looked outside and saw a set of long-abandoned properties across the street were showing more signs of wear than normal. More debris was visible in the open — formerly boarded — window of a two-story garage, and one of the buildings appeared to bulge.
The set of three buildings have been a blighted nuisance to neighbors for years, they say. One has taken it upon themselves to board up the properties as needed. This morning, neighbors called for emergency services when two of them suffered a partial collapse.
Tucked away down the West Atlantic Street alleyway, half a block from St. Michael’s Church and Trinity Academy, the abandoned set are a hazard, not only to them, but to passersby, neighbors say.
The two story home at 327 West Atlantic was boarded up in a 1995 photo on the Schuylkill County Parcel Locator, in a similar fashion as it sits today. Properties at 325, a three story home, and 323, the two-story garage, are a part of parcels fronted on West Oak Street.
325 and 323 are owned by out-of-state entities, 325 by Manuel Romero, of Nanuet, New York, and 323 by Paul Gayet, of McLean, Virginia. 327 is owned by Maria Cruz, of Shenandoah.
Shenandoah fire marshals and a police officer came by around 6:30am, looked around the properties from all accessible sides. Sunlight could be seen through the windows of both 323 and 325 from the street level, through what remained of ceilings.
The buildings were roped off with yellow tape, and the marshals requested PP&L remove wires still connected to the buildings. Any further action would be up to the borough, who would be notified of the matter later in the morning, though neighbors were asked to call again if anything else happened.
The homes are the third known set of blighted homes to suffer some sort of collapse in the past three weeks in our area, the other two occurring in Girardville.
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