House partially collapses in Nicetown-Tioga section of Philadelphia

A rowhome partially collapsed on a residential block in the Nicetown-Tioga section of North Philadelphia Thursday morning.

The home is on the 1800 block of Brunner Street between Germantown and Wayne avenues.

The Philadelphia Fire Department was called out to the block just before 5 a.m. and requested assistance from the city's Department of Licenses and Inspections. PECO is also on the scene.

Red bricks were strewn across the ground and on top of vehicles parked in the area.

The Philadelphia Fire Department said the home was occupied, but there were no injuries.

Crews worked to demolish the house but stopped Thursday evening. They're expected to continue the demolition process Friday.

The cause of the collapse is under investigation.

Three siblings — an 18-year-old, a 20-year-old and a 16-year-old — were inside the home when the side of it fell down.

"My cats are running all over," the 18-year-old said. "I come downstairs and there's all this dust, I can't see nothing, I can't even find my glasses. It's dark, it's raining, we go outside and boom, whole crib, on the ground."

Jay Young was sitting in his truck when suddenly, bricks started falling on the vehicle's roof.

"I'd just come back from McDonald's, I was sitting in the truck eating and I heard something hit the roof of my truck," Young said. "I get out to figure out what's going on, and I look over at the house and I see more bricks starting to fall. I just ran away from the truck."

Tosha Taylor, of Nicetown, said she's outraged by the collapse. 

"This doesn't just affect this house. It affects the community with devastation again," she said."So, we have to do better with these blight and dilapidated properties here in the city."

The American Red Cross said it is providing emergency help to a family of four because of the collapse.

A spokesperson for the L&I said the building was already on the department's radar and was declared unsafe in July 2025. The owner failed to provide an engineer's report saying the building was safe and did not apply for a permit to make the needed repairs, the spokesperson said. 

The property was added to a list for further review after an explosion on Bristol Street last year, but the owner failed to take any action, the L&I spokesperson said.

In June 2025, multiple homes collapsed after an explosion on the 1900 block of West Bristol Street in Nicetown, a short walk from this block.