A handful of families in Washington County are looking for places to stay after their apartment building was cordoned off by borough officials.
Tenants were ordered out of the Canonsburg building after part of an apartment ceiling collapsed, and Channel 11 went to the scene when a viewer called our newsroom.
“The ceiling was literally on the living room floor,” said tenant Alisa McGant.
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She came home and found a mound of drywall and insulation blanketing her belongings.
“I was having trouble breathing when I tried to enter it to get some of the stuff out so I immediately called the fire department,” she said.
Building inspectors deemed the five-unit building on Craighead Street unfit for human occupancy, meaning all the tenants had to leave.
But when they turned to their landlord for help, the situation got worse.
“I asked him if he could provide housing for me until the apartment was fixed or something, and he stated it wasn’t his responsibility,” McGant said.
Channel 11 called the owner of the building, but he said he was out of town on vacation and had no comment.
What’s left of McGant’s possessions are sitting outside the building – maybe a half-dozen items.
“They tried to save what they could,” she said. “I lost everything.
“There’s things in there I lost and can’t replace. But, by the grace of God, I wasn’t in there when it fell.”
Canonsburg Mayor David Rhome told Channel 11 that building inspectors will look at the units on Monday morning, but are erring on the side of caution until then.