3 Residents Rescued After Apartment Building Partially Collapses In Northern Liberties

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Inspectors from Philadelphia's Licenses and Inspections Department are keeping a close eye on a building in Northern Liberties that is in danger of collapsing at any moment.

One wall caved in on the ground floor of 727 N. 2nd St. around 4 a.m. Thursday, trapping three people inside a third floor apartment.

"We thought it was an earthquake," said Steven Westbrook, who was asleep when the collapse happened. "The apartment started to shift and then the floor dropped."

The first and second floors were vacant.

"Once we realized that we couldn't get out of the apartment, we just did what the police said, stay close to the wall, he still and stay as calm as possible," he said.

Firefighters arrived within minutes of the 911 call to get the two men and one woman out.

"They had to cut open the door," Westbrook said. "So we just were trying to get out as fast as possible because we didn't want it to shift anymore."

PECO crews immediately shut off the power.  Inspectors from L&I arrived soon after to assess the building's condition.

Firefighters say the building is circa 1895 and will likely come down.

"Cracks in the walls, windows, doors shifted, it's in imminent danger of collapse," said Capt. Brian Foley of the Philadelphia Fire Department.

There's no word on the cause of the collapse, but neighbors said the first floor was being renovated to accommodate a new business.

"It was a slow collapse, it was just as you would imagine, when a structure collapses, it goes bit by bit, especially from the bottom up," said Bill Murphy, who owns the building next door.

The building is now uninhabitable, so the Red Cross is helping the three people displaced for the next few days.