MILLVALE (KDKA) — Crews began tearing down a building that partially collapsed in Millvale early Tuesday morning.

“It was just really loud and it sounded like thunder!”

That’s how Shannon Nist described what she heard when most of the back wall of a three-story apartment building came crashing down in Millvale.

“I was just shocked that the middle of a wall could fall down like that, and it was just crazy because then other pieces started falling down,” said Nist.

A demolition crew began tearing the building down around midnight before it fell down on its own. Evergreen Avenue was closed overnight. It’s estimated that it could take four to six hours to bring the building down.

An Equitable Gas crew worked in front of the structure Monday evening. Although the building had been vacant for years, it had both gas and electric service which had to be shut off.

The building sits directly above Girty’s Run and neighbors feared that if it wasn’t torn down soon, the rest of it would fall down either sending debris into their yards or damming up the run.

“It’s an eyesore, and it’s very dangerous,” said neighbor Jaynee Welch. “I’m afraid it will come this way when it hits. It could even send stones over that way. It could knock those trees over until it blocks the creek.”

She says the sooner they bring it down, the better.

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