'Like Dominoes': East Boston Building Demolished After Partial Collapse

BOSTON (CBS) -- Crews knocked down an East Boston building that city officials feared was in danger of completely collapsing on Monday morning.

Demolition took place around 8:30 a.m. A large perimeter was set up around the four-story Winthrop Street building.

"And like dominoes, it went the way we hoped it would go," said Boston Inspectional Services Commissioner Buddy Christopher. "The concern was that the outside wall...we didn't know what direction that would go. But it went the direction that we wanted it to."

The building partially collapsed on Sunday afternoon, forcing over two dozen people in neighboring buildings to evacuate.

No injuries were reported.

Boston firefighters remained on scene late into the night Sunday, watching for any signs of shifting and fearing the building would collapse.

"The building is not stable enough to allow us to put people in the building to shore it up, for public safety reasons we've determined the building will come down," said Christopher.

After the demolition, he added, "within 24 hours we want to get these businesses back in operation and then we'll look at the paperwork and figure out the responsibilities."

Neighbors who were evacuated should be able to return Monday.

The building had been vacant and under renovation at the time of the partial collapse. The owner had a selective demolition permit.

It is unclear what caused the collapse.

In:
• Building Collapse
• East Boston