MONTELLO (WKOW) — More than a dozen people are temporarily without a home in Montello.
The front part of a more than century-old apartment building collapsed Wednesday afternoon.
That led to safety concerns for the people who live there.
As of Wednesday night, no one knows why or how the facade now lies crumbled off of Main Street.
“I think it being an older building, the weather had a lot to do with what happened,” Scott Whaley, who has lived in the building for three years, said.
“It was a very comfortable place to live,” he said of his apartment.
Whaley found out about the news while he was at work.
Owner Dennis Whitemarsh says there isn’t any concern about the structural integrity of the building.
The main issue is whether any more bricks might fall off and hurt someone.
He doesn’t expect people will be out of their homes for longer than a couple days.
Whaley says after seeing the damage first-hand he’s not as worried.
“I guess my reaction was: ‘Oh well I’ll just spend the evening somewhere else and find out more about what’s going on in the morning’.” Whaley said.
Montello firefighters say there isn’t any concern to anyone outside of the tape.
All that’s left now is for an engineer find out how much further the damage goes, so cleanup can begin soon.
More on this story at WKOW 27 News