Wilkes-Barre homeowner says demolition damaging his house

WILKES-BARRE For Noel George Miller, the demolition of a neighboring building is a little too close to home literally.

Crews from Brdaric Excavating Inc., of Luzerne, were tearing down a building at 31-35 North Welles Street. City spokeswoman Liza Prokop said the property suffered fire damage on two occasions most recently, she said a three-alarm fire damaged the building on Nov. 20 of last year.

The city had a professional engineer look at the property, and determined that the property was structurally unsound and demolition was the best option, she said.

Along with the damages, Prokop said that the building had been vacant and broken into more than a dozen times, and members of the public complained about its condition.

Miller, 71, stood outside and watched as heavy equipment tore down the building. He said it already began to collapse before the demolition, which sent bricks and other material into his yard.

The demolition, however, resulted in even more bricks coming into his yard and destroying a storage shed on his property. Crews had what appeared to be a large tarp between the two properties, but the tarp only covered a portion of the demolition site Millers house and backyard remained exposed.

He wasnt too worried about the minor structure, but was more worried about another storage building in his backyard and his house itself.

I asked them to stop and they refused, Miller said. What am I supposed to do?

Mere feet separated the crumbling building from Millers house. Along with the damaged shed, Millers gutter nearest the building being demolished was seemingly damaged.

Miller called police, who encouraged him to take pictures of his property before and after the demolition. Miller said he contacted the building code officer, who told him that the demolition was advertised in the newspaper.

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Wilkes-Barre homeowner says demolition damaging his house