Nine people evacuated after partial apartment building collapse in Hawthorne

Firefighters respond to a partial collapse of a building on Rock Road in Hawthorne Jan. 28, 2024.

HAWTHORNE — Nine people and six pets were evacuated from an apartment building Sunday morning after part of the two-story brick building collapsed.

There were no injuries, Fire Chief Joseph Speranza said, but 12 units at the Hawthorne Garden Apartments at 100 Rock Road were evacuated due to the partial collapse, which happened just before 10 a.m.

Nine residents, three dogs and three cats were taken to the Hawthorne Ambulance Corps Building, and firefighters and other emergency responders were at the scene of the collapse.

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The cause appears to be water damage to the building and ground saturation from recent storms, Speranza said. Four units were especially compromised, he said.

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“They’re going to need an engineer to come and look at it. There’s a good chance they will lose part of the building, or at least the four units involved,” Speranza said. “The ground is just so saturated. It’s not going to get better; it’s going to continue to fail.”

In September, a 50- to 60-foot section of brick wall at Hawthorne High School collapsed, raining debris on cars that were parked below. That collapse caused no injuries and did not affect the structure of the building.

Check back for more on this developing story.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Nine people evacuated after partial apartment building collapse in Hawthorne