Crews returned to Chicago’s West Garfield Park neighborhood Tuesday to clean up and assess the damage after bricks came crashing through a family's home near Pulaski and Washington.
"Last night we were standing out and there were bricks falling down, falling down out of the sky,” said a man who lives at the home heavily damaged by the bricks. "What do you do? Look up every time you walk pass the building? That’s ridiculous."
The man didn’t want to be identified but said his family has lived in the same home for 17 years. His wife, 20-year-old daughter and 6-week-old grandson were home Monday when dozens of bricks from a vacant building next door fell through his roof and landed in his daughter’s bedroom.
"Thank God she was not in the bed at the time with my grandson," he said. "When I got here I went upstairs to look. There was just a horrific scene. There was just big massive bricks, drywall, wood, just laying in the bed where they both lay."
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Pictures shared with NBC 5 show the aftermath and the damage inside the family’s home. Dozens of bricks and debris were scattered all over his daughter's bathroom upstairs and even in their front yard. A steel frame was lodged in the ground in their gangway from what the fire department said was a partial façade collapse.
"This would be the third incident that this happened here," he said. "The first time it happened, you could never find out who owns the property."
NBC 5 learned from Chicago's Department of Buildings that the property owner is currently making emergency temporary repairs. A spokesperson told NBC 5 the property was previously cited for building code violations in 2022 and the owner is currently being prosecuted in court by the city.
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"The city will seek to add any additional violations to the Court case and will request that the Court order the property owner to submit a structural engineer's report to the Court," the Department of Buildings spokesperson said.
"I’m still in disbelief right now. Just hopefully somebody from the city will come out and look and tell us what they’re going to do and what needs to be done,” he said.
The man said he's thankful his family is OK. They were allowed to gather some personal belongings from their home, and for the time being they’re staying somewhere else.
The next court date is set for April 20.
