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The Birmingham Public Works Department is trying to understand what caused a rear wall on a three-story building to collapse on Sunday morning.
Firefighters were dispatched to 1809 Morris Avenue at 7:20AM Sunday. Once on the scene they found the entire rear wall facing the Amtrak Station scattered along the sidewalk and into the street.
While the call came in at 7:20AM one Amtrak employee who did not give his name said he observed the structure failure when he arrived to work at 5AM.
Fire Crews taped off the street between 18th and 19th Street North and called in an excavator to clear away the rubble. But work halted after crews smelled gas and realized that utilities to the building were still operating.
Alabama Power and Alagasco crews were called in to shut down the utilities to allow work to resume. Battalion Chief William Brown says it was fortunate that no-one was inside the building when the wall gave way and that the failure occurred while few people would be walking the streets. The building sits diagonally across from the City Maxx Transit Station.
While the building was unoccupied at least one business did operate on the second floor. File cabinets, furniture, maps, and calenders were all visible from the street below. The business owner was on the scene but did not want to identify himself, but did say operates a Brokerage Firm.
He adds he's out of business for now, and isn't sure what he'll do next.
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