August 02, 2015
Sharon Lurye/PhillyVoice
Dilapidated house on 1400 Germantown Avenue where a wall collapsed on August 2, 2015.
The wall of an abandoned building at 1400 Germantown Avenue collapsed Sunday afternoon, taking out a fence and spilling concrete into the street. No one was injured.
The collapse occurred shortly before 3 p.m., according to witnesses. The wall “just out of the blue, just spontaneously fell apart,” said witness Sam Santos.
An employee at Reanimator Coffee, across the street from the building, said that he heard “a very crumbly sound, loud enough that we heard it here but it wasn’t like an explosion.”
Another witness saw a public transit bus pass by the building as it collapsed, driving “through the cloud of dust.”
The windows of the home were barred and two signs were posted saying “WARNING” and “DANGER.”
Fire Department officials at the scene declined to comment. The block has been closed to all traffic except buses until a contractor arrives.
