FORESTVILLE - After teetering on the brink of total collapse for the past several months, an apartment building in downtown Forestville came crashing down.
At approximately 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, a small crowd of village residents, public officials and emergency personnel watched as the building, which had been left crumbling bit by bit since May, collapsed onto Main Street and into an alleyway. The building - located at 15 Main Street in the village of Forestville - had been a growing concern for owner Glen Hurrell and village officials since it was initially posted as unsafe four months earlier by Code Enforcement Officer Linda Defries.
The building began showing signs of imminent collapse shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday, at which time emergency personnel partitioned off the site for safety purposes. In addition, a section of Main Street in front of the building and neighboring post office was closed to traffic.
Soon after, a wooden support beam on the ground floor gave way, sending a significant portion of the building crashing to the ground.
"At about 4:20 p.m., we received the initial call that the southwest corner of the building had collapsed," Kyle Barthel, third-assistant chief of the Forestville Fire Department, explained following the incident. "Once that had fallen, approximately one hour later, half of the front part had fallen, and at that point we were waiting for demolition crews to arrive."
However, the deteriorating and progressively unsafe condition of the building has been an ongoing issue in the village, with problems beginning months ago and only reaching the breaking point Tuesday, culminating in the collapse.
On May 27, Defries posted the building as an unsafe structure after the west wall nearly collapsed onto the neighboring post office building. Two days later, after an engineering report was completed, the alleyway was cleared of debris, and the necessary improvements were made to secure the building, she issued a certificate of occupancy.
Again on Aug. 14, local and county emergency personnel responded when a large section of the west wall buckled and collapsed into the alleyway. When this occurred, the building was abandoned and the neighboring Tri-County Medical Center was relocated to the Forestville American Legion Post 953.
According to Hurrell previously, the condition of the building was the result of a series of neighboring fires in the early 1900s which weakened the structure. Hurrell also said, despite countless requests for help, he couldn't get any assistance in saving the structure.
As of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, crews from S. St. George Enterprises had arrived on scene with the necessary equipment to demolish the remaining structure.
"They're going to attempt to demolish that one-third of the building that hasn't collapsed," Barthel explained.
In addition, he said Stohl Environmental was on location to check for asbestos and monitor air quality before and during demolition.
At the time of the collapse, there was no visible damage caused to any of the neighboring buildings, according to Barthel. However, he said there still are concerns the buildings may have been structurally compromised, though adding officials won't know anything further until the remainder of the building is removed and the debris cleared.
"It's a concern right now for the Tri-County medical office and Brad's Bar & Grill on the far end," Barthel said. "As far as the post office, it's a concern as well."
Although there were no serious injuries suffered during the collapse, Barthel said one fire fighter was taken to the hospital following the second stage of the collapse to be checked out.
"She inhaled a lot of the dust that came out of the building when it collapsed," he explained.
As far as he knew, she was doing all right.
In addition to the Forestville Fire Department, Chautauqua County Fire Police and Emergency Services, the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Department, the East Town Dunkirk Fire Department, the West Town Dunkirk Fire Department, and the Sheridan Fire Department were on scene. In addition, the village fire department requested manpower from Silver Creek and Cassadaga.
Comments on this article can be sent to jcuthbert@observertoday.com
