Crews respond to partial rowhome collapse in North Philadelphia

An investigation is underway after fire crews responded to a partial building collapse in the Nicetown section of North Philadelphia on Thursday.

At about 5:40 a.m., crews responded to a report of a collapse along the 1800 block of Brunner Street.

As seen by NBC10’s Skyforce10, a side wall of a rowhome at the end of the block had fallen, leaving piles of bricks scattered across the sidewalk and roadway.

No one was believed to have been injured in this incident.

At the scene, Jae Young, who lives on the block, told NBC10’s Lili Zheng he was eating a breakfast sandwich in his truck as it was struck by bricks when the wall collapsed.

“I was sitting in the truck and I heard something hit the roof of my truck, so I got out to see what was going on,” said Young. “And, a couple of bricks were falling off the side of the house so, I ran. And, a couple of seconds later, it all came down.”

He said that, when the wall of the building fell, he ran from his truck to the front of the rowhome to alert anyone there to what was happening.

Young said he awoke three children at the property and made sure they all got out of the home.

“They were in there asleep,” he said. “I had actually knocked on the door and I was checking out the damage and they finally came out. They were kids.”

Young said he believed the children — who he assumed were in their early teens — were the only individuals inside the home when the incident occurred.

Officials did not immediately detail the extent of the damage or detail what may have led to the collapse.

But, NBC10 has reached out to officials and is working to learn more.

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated as new information becomes available.

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