Woman, children trapped after collapse inside Feltonville home
FELTONVILLE (WPVI) -- A woman and her young children were trapped after the second floor of a home in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia collapsed.
It happened around 4:30 p.m. Friday on the 100 block of West Rockland Street near Roosevelt Boulevard.
"It was scary. You didn't know what was happening," said one resident.
Neighbors described the tense moments as a family became trapped in a collapsing home.
Chopper 6 HD was over the scene as fire crews responded to home.
Part of the second floor fell, stranding a mother and four children upstairs.
"I heard her screaming out the window. Help me. Help my kids," neighbor Trina Brown said.
Neighbors, including Kevin Bagley, jumped into action.
"I ran around the back and that's when she had babies out the window, and I climbed up the tree and started doing the best I could to help her out," Bagley said.
Perched in a tree, Bagley grabbed and lowered each child. Grandmother Aameenah Muisilimah says her 24-year-old daughter was injured when she jumped onto a mattress below.
"Probably bumps and bruises, more scared than anything," Muisilimah said.
PGW spent hours trying to cap a gas leak and shut off service to the building L&I deemed unsafe.
Residents of three other apartments were allowed to move out important possessions.
Red Paws Relief took in four dogs. These frustrated tenants say the building wasn't properly maintained.
Resident Aunjanee Allen said, "Nobody even understands how this can happen? How can a person own this and have people pay rent and stuff?"
While several are now homeless. Muisilimah is counting her blessings that this didn't end in tragedy.
"I'm grateful I have neighbors on my block who love us enough to help us. That's what I'm grateful for," Muisilimah said.
The building was boarded up, fenced off, and is now ready for demolition.
The Red Cross is helping the displaced residents.
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