Updated at 10 p.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Two people were taken to the hospital after the front of a house collapsed in Germantown.
Officials say the two people who were hurt were not inside the house, but were apparently walking by when the façade fell. The Philadelphia Fire Department said they were underneath rubble and medics pulled them out, treated them, and transported them to local hospitals.
“I’m in my house, and I heard a whole bunch of commotion, like stuff falling,” said Tawanda Jenkins, who lives across the street. “I come out, and this is what I see: the whole house just fell.”
Jenkins said the house had been vacant for some time. “Somebody lives next door,” she said, “but nobody has been in that house for a while. Just the raccoons.”
Fellow across-the-street neighbor Teasha Joyner said she had never seen anything like this. “This is the first time this ever happened and I’ve been here for 41 years,” said Joyner, who was about to sit down to watch a movie when the house collapsed.
“[It was a] very loud noise that happened. I looked out my window and I saw a bunch of smoke coming from the house and all the debris that fell from the home. I had called 911 [and] let them know everything that occurred.”
According to Jenkins, it was only a matter of time before the collapse. “It was bound to happen,” she said. “The roof was sunken in. All we needed was one good rainstorm or snowstorm.”
The Department of Licenses and Inspections has scheduled a curbside demolition for Thursday. Utilities lines to the house have been cut, and no other residences were affected. Officials are investigating the cause.