Landslide Closes Hazelwood Road, Threatens Power Lines
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A landslide is threatening a home in Hazelwood.
The steady buzz of power saws is music to the ears of T.J. Spina. It means progress is being made clearing the trees and dirt piled up behind his house on Imogene Road.
It was around 5 a.m. Thursday, as Spina was getting up for work, that his dog started shaking.
"I heard what I thought was thunder and my little dog started getting nervous, and I went outside and saw that a bunch of earth, and debris and trees had come down like a landslide," said Spina.
Spina says the hillside behind his home is owned by Calvary Cemetery and while he's had to deal with the occasional water run-off over the past two years, there's never been anything like this.
"This was lawn, just like this, basically all the way over to the phone pole, flat lawn," he said. "There was a big old pine tree that we had, and a shed, it's like at the bottom of the pile now."
The hillside is still moving. The city Engineering Department told Spina it isn't safe to stay.
"They're saying we have to go for the time being," he said. "With the rain that we're supposed to get, and when they start moving stuff, they're afraid that more might come down."
So, Spina and his dog are going to stay with a friend. Workers are focusing on removing the dirt around his house, then they will work to stabilize the hillside.
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