FDNY: Portion of roof collapses onto sidewalk in Williamsburg
The FDNY says there were no injuries.
A portion of a roof collapsed Sunday afternoon on Roebling Street between Metropolitan Avenue and Hope Street.
The FDNY says the parapet wall collapsed at around 4:40pm, which caused the partial collapse.
About 25 units responded to the scene.
The parapet wall helps prevent anything or anyone from falling off a roof. News 12 got video surveillance of the collapse from Kidsuper, a business located across the street. Store owner Colm Dillane said he was outside and saw it all happen right before his eyes.
"I thought the whole building was going to come down," Dillane said. "Luckily only part of it came down”
The commercial building has been vacant for at least two years, according to residents in the area. The FDNY also says they've received numerous calls within the past couple of years to the building.
The Department of Building placed a vacate order on the building.
Residents in the area say they are concerned about what could possibly happen with this building or others in the area.
"The response has been on point, but I mean we’re all here. There’s probably scaffolding a block down or a block that way, or somewhere deeper in Brooklyn or somewhere in Manhattan, so I think that is my real worry," a Brooklyn resident told News 12.
The FDNY says there is always concern for whether or not the building will further collapse due to the location of the damage.
"A lot of the debris, as you can see, is on the fire escape. So the fear is that all of the debris and all of that weight on the fire escape can pull that fire escape down and pull that wall down," said FDNY Assistant Chief Mike Myers.
