Long Beach firefighters stabilize West End home

Long Beach firefighters rushed to the West End on Thursday after a home being constructed on West Park Avenue was at risk of collapsing and leaned dangerously close to a house next door.

The incident was reported just after noon at 815 W. Park Ave., between New York Avenue and California Street, where the structurally unstable frame of a new two-story home had shifted.

“We received telephone calls from numerous passersby about a house that was leaning too far toward another house,” Long Beach Fire Chief RJ Tuccillo said. “As you can see, the house did shift.”

Emergency crews from around Nassau County responded to help firefighters secure the structure, still in its early stages of construction, including the county’s technical response team, on a day when wind gusts reached 50 mph in the area, according to the National Weather Service.

“Right now, we do not know the cause of it,” Tuccillo told reporters at the scene. “It’s a brand new house from top to bottom that was built with metal studs instead of common wood, so we need to get it shored up and secure so we can get an engineer and the contractor in there to make a decision about whether to take the house down or see if the house can be repaired.”

Firefighters were able to secure the home but had evacuated next-door neighbors as a precaution.

"There’s not much to it right now,” Tuccillo said of the structure. “It just has the steel framing and some sheathing, so there’s not too much weight on the house. So, if anything, it’s just going to shift and maybe lean on the other house — but we want to avoid that.”

No injuries were reported, and Tuccillo said that gas and other utilities were not yet connected to the home.

Fire Commissioner Scott Kemins said that the property was previously home to a bungalow that was damaged in Hurricane Sandy. The property was acquired by New York Rising and sold at auction. The Zoning Board of Appeals granted the new property owner a variance to build the new structure last year, nearby residents said.

Kemins said that Richard Shue, a city building inspector, was among those who noticed the house tilting. “He was driving by, going on another inspection, and noticed it,” Kemins said.

Park Avenue, from Grand Boulevard to Arizona Avenue, was closed in both directions for hours until firefighters deemed the building safe.

Kemins added that while the strong winds played a factor, there might have been an issue with the design of the home, which he said would likely have to be completely rebuilt.

“Obviously, the wind contributed to it, but there is some kind of design flaw to the construction,” Kemins said. “The engineer who drew the plans, the contractor and the homeowners, they will work it out. Once we determine it’s safe, they’re going to end up taking it down and doing whatever they need to do to correct the situation.”

Nearby resident Karen Febrizio said that her mother-in-law, Marie, who lives next door, was shaken after she was evacuated from her home. Marie Febrizio told reporters that it was unclear how long it would be until she could return home.

“She’s 88-years-old,” Karen Febrizio said of her mother-in-law. “She’s absolutely shaken up. We have a wonderful mail carrier who noticed that the house was leaning, and she immediately called my husband and then called 911.”

The Herald will update this story.