Brick facade on Merrillville building collapses
BY Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com September 5, 2012 6:42PM
Updated: October 7, 2012 8:07AM
Enough bricks fell early Wednesday morning from the facade of a Merrillville business to leave two rooms open to the outside and to force the business to close until repairs could be made.
Merrillville Fire Department Fire Marshal Philip Topor said someone called the department around 1 a.m. to report a structure collapsing.
Bricks had fallen from the building, Brugos Automotive at 401 W. 73rd Ave., leaving two rooms on the second floor exposed to the elements and passing vehicles.
Topor said no one appeared to have been inside the building when the bricks fell and no one was hurt.
He said the building, as far as he knows, has been declared unsafe until fixes can be made.
Crews were at work by Wednesday afternoon.
Topor said a storm was in the area when the bricks fell but he did not know if that caused the damage “or if it just decided to collapse.”
