None Hurt In Bridgeport Home Collapse
CHICAGO (STMW) -- An elderly woman and her daughter escaped without injuries when a single-family house collapsed Thursday night in the Bridgeport neighborhood on the South Side.
Firefighters responded about 10 p.m. to a report of a building collapse in the 3600 block of South Lowe Avenue, Fire Media Affairs said.
The two women were able to self-evacuate as one wall came down, causing half of the roof to shift into the gangway, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
Langford said it is unclear whether the two women were the only occupants of the home.
Fire officials estimated the house was more than one hundred years old and the collapse may be due to the building's age.
Houses on either side of the building also were evacuated as a precautionary measure, Langford said.
"If the roof slides any more off of the main building, it could cause some substantial damage to the building to the north," Langford said. "Every minute we get more bricks falling, it's very unstable."
Firefighters remained on the scene Thursday night as utilities were shut off and officials from the city's building department were en route to determine whether the house needed to be immediately torn down.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
