Part of the home crumbled at roughly 4:30 a.m. along the 1000 block of Wagner Avenue.
Several walls along the rear of the house fell, exposing the interior rooms of the structure.
Utility crews arrived and shut off gas and electricity, and the Philadelphia Fire Dept. sent people door-to-door to warn neighbors about the collapse.
The city's Licenses and Inspections department ruled that it was only a brick facade of the building, that the structure is sound, and the homeowner was allowed back inside.
