Pittsburgh street reopens to all traffic after building collapsed

PITTSBURGH — Strong storms ripped through the area on August 12 and building partially collapsed on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The recently opened Swirl Penguins ice cream shop on the floor above came crashing down around 8:30 p.m. along East Carson Street.

The tumbling bricks narrowly missed a man walking his dog.

You can now customize your WPXI News App to receive Allegheny County news alerts. CLICK HERE to find out how.

As the rain let up and hours passed, the damage became more clear.

The top floor was left wide open, the roof was gone and bricks were everywhere.

Walls were exposed and debris covered the sidewalk below.

A firefighter was treated for glass in his eye.

Eyewitnesses said it was unbelievable.

“I just was up right up here and all of a sudden I heard, boom and I don’t know what the hell happened. I didn’t know if it was a car accident or what, and I look over and then I can feel stuff hitting the sides of my legs and it just came down,” said South Side resident Rob Romano.

East Carson Street between South 16th and 17th Streets had been closed to all types of traffic while they cleared it up. However, after the demolition, car and foot traffic was able to continue Thursday afternoon.

The city still has barricades on the sidewalk and parking lanes until further inspection can be completed.

Second story of Pittsburgh building collapses above a business, lands on parked car - RAW