North Jersey Apartments Collapse, Scattering Residents

PASSAIC COUNTY, NJ — Residents were evacuated from a Passaic County apartment building on Sunday morning after part of the two-story building collapsed.

According to authorities, no injuries were reported, but all units at the Hawthorne Garden Apartments at 100 Rock Road were evacuated due to the partial collapse, which happened at around 9 a.m.

In a statement, Fire Chief Joseph Speranza said that a wall had collapsed and a portion of the first floor had collapsed into the basement, compromising the utilities of the building.

"The remainder of the building was evacuated along with other buildings with utilities affected," Speranza said.

Emergency officials operated until 1 p.m. and returned at 2:30 p.m. to stand by for safety while an engineer and company shored up the building.

All members were back home around 6:30 p.m., Speranza said.

According to a report by ABC7ny.com, four units were compromised and an examination revealed a stress crack in another section of the building, prompting officials to evacuate the entire structure.

The collapse appears to have been caused by water damage to the building and ground saturation from previous storms, according to NorthJersey.com.