Emergency crews respond to partial building collapse in Yonkers
The four-story building at 9 North Broadway experienced a floor collapse.
Emergency crews responded to a partial building collapse in Yonkers on Friday morning, according to the Yonkers fire commissioner.
The four-story building at 9 North Broadway experienced a partial collapse of the first floor and a wall into the basement.
Occupants were taken out from the second floor via ladder due to a compromised staircase.
"When we first got on the scene, the people were trapped on the upper floors," said Yonkers Fire Commissioner William Fitzpatrick.
The occupants who were removed, a mother and son who lived in the third floor, suffered minor injuries, according to officials.
Yonkers police and the Yonkers Fire Department are working to maintain the integrity of the rest of the structure.
Fire crews say the adjacent building may have also sustained damage in the collapse.
The fire commissioner says the property is well over 100 years old.
Officials were still trying to determine as of Friday evening a cause for the partial collapse.
"It could be lack of maintenance over time, not taking care of the building, but those are the things that usually happen," said James Gibbons, commissioner of the Department of Housing and Buildings.
News 12 asked the city commissioner if the building has had previous issues or violations. He said the building received a violation over running water back in 2021. He said the owner was suppose to send back a plan of action to make repairs within a matter of weeks but the city never got that.
News 12 also called the building's owner but had yet to hear back as of Friday evening.
The Yonkers fire chief says where the collapse happened in a vacant part of the building.
Emergency crews were still trying to determine as of Friday evening how many people lived inside the other parts of the building and could now be displaced.
Gibbons said a contractor concluded an examination of the structure on Friday evening.
He added there will be another examination by another contractor or engineer on Saturday at 7 a.m.
Gibbons said the next evaluation of the building will determine what steps to take next.
He said the goal and hope is to save and preserve the building.
