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Vacant apartment building collapses in Brookline
No one was injured, but a car was crushed by falling bricks.
A three-story apartment building partially collapsed in Brookline over the weekend. No one was injured, but a nearby car was flattened.
Police and firefighters responded to 50 Vernon St. Sunday morning just before 10 a.m., officials said. The top two floors of the building collapsed, sending a wave of bricks crashing down.
The building was under construction and was vacant at the time. There were no reported injuries, but several nearby buildings were evacuated as a precaution.
“At this time the cause of the collapse is unknown. All building permits for this site are active and valid. The scene will be secured until the structure has been stabilized and we ask everyone to abide by the perimeter for their own safety,” the town of Brookline said in a statement Sunday.
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Brookline Building Commissioner Dan Bennett went to the scene to assess the damage and determine next steps. Officials said Sunday that “the immediate concern is the free standing wall and the stability of attached front façade.”
Deputy Fire Chief Kyle McEachern told The Boston Globe that other cars were damaged and that he “would imagine” recent snowfall contributed to the collapse. The area saw heavy snow and rain Saturday night and throughout Sunday, coupled with intense winds.
The incident displaced six people, Fire Chief Brendan Sullivan told the Globe. They were mostly staying in hotels while crews cleaned up the damage.
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Erica Koval was preparing to go to an indoor playground Sunday morning with her husband and two young children. They were warming up their Rivian R1S SUV when the building collapsed and crushed the unoccupied vehicle.
Koval described hearing a “sound like a wind gust, but too loud to be a wind gust.”
“Honestly, all day, we’ve really just been feeling grateful,” she told the Globe.
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