Partial building collapse leads to demolition in Bellevue

A building on a residential Bellevue street was demolished Thursday after it began to collapse, authorities said.

Bellevue police said in an alert about 4 p.m. that a three-story building had collapsed in the 500 block of Forest Avenue.

Property records show the brick building was sold to Dream Homes Enterprises in April 2021 for around $27,000. The company could not immediately be reached. The owner address listed is for a residential home in Marshall.

Officials told Tribune-Review news partner WPXI-TV that part of the building collapsed and the entire structure was at risk. Neighbors on either side of the building were temporarily evacuated.

A neighbor told the TV station the building, which is classified as a commercial-use building per tax records, has been condemned for several years. He noted a hole in the roof of the structure, which crews said has been there for years.

Crews told WPXI water has been seeping into the building and damaging everything it saturates.

Undercliff Volunteer Fire Company release photos of the building that showed the tan brick building with gaping holes where large front-facing windows would be, along with chipped paint and cracks in bricks. The photos also showed the roof beginning to crumble in the rear