Tenants urgently evacuated at Mt. Airy apartment building after CBS News Philadelphia investigation
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Some tenants who live in a Mt. Airy apartment building are being evacuated as soon as possible due to structural safety concerns.
Days after a CBS News Philadelphia investigation uncovered potential dangers for some of the people living inside Stenton Garden Apartments, some tenants are being told to evacuate by Friday afternoon.
"All of a sudden now, after a news story airs, now we have to evacuate within 72 hours," Jamie Lawyer, a tenant, said.
Engineers CBS News Philadelphia talked with last week warned of a very dangerous situation and feared the building could collapse at any time.
Lawyer is one of the tenants who received the notice to evacuate, but she had already started moving out last week.
"I immediately started to remove myself, I removed my daughter from our home, this is the only home she's ever known. She's 4 years old," said Lawyer, who called CBS News Philadelphia for help after she noticed a large crack in the wall and running along the floor in her apartment. She said she alerted the Philadelphia Department of Licenses & Inspections but never received a response.
Then on May 1, Lawyer and other tenants saw a bright orange notice from L&I taped to the front door that deemed the building an "unsafe structure." Last week, CBS News Philadelphia asked outside engineers to look at the property. They said the situation was too dangerous to have people living inside and they warned the city of their findings.
"You have a hinge point at the basement to first floor, and it's ready to collapse," said Mark Johannessen, who is a structural engineer with Viking Engineers.
As of Friday, both L&I and GY Properties,which manages the building, said evacuation was not warranted.
In response to the findings from the outside engineers, a spokesperson with L&I said: "The engineer report they provided is incomplete, it does not consider history, repairs and conditions related to the exterior wall of the D building."
Five days later, some tenants are being told to leave as soon as possible with the option to stay temporarily in a hotel.
"It makes me feel that all of the uncertainties I had about the damage were in fact true and that people were just kind of dragging their feet and not being diligent in their inspections," Lawyer said.
CBS News Philadelphia received a statement Wednesday from GY Properties saying: "As a precautionary measure, we've kindly requested all residents to gather their necessities, including clothing, toiletries and medications. The building will undergo bracing tomorrow and is anticipated to be completed by Monday. This proactive approach will enable us to relocate, release, or assist residents in moving as needed. For the first phase, we anticipate the relocation of 8 families."
The statement went on to say: "Following the completion of shoring, the right wing of Building D will be deemed temporarily unavailable for rent during the ongoing repairs. We understand the potential inconvenience this may cause and are committed to providing support to all affected families."
In a written statement Wednesday, a spokesperson with L&I said: "Property owners hired their own engineers to survey the damage to building D located at 6325 Crittenden Street. Engineers had permission to enter the property and issued an extensive sealed engineer's report recommending building D be evacuated. It is the property owner's responsibility to provide the tenant with housing due to evacuation."