SHENANDOAH-- When fire crews were called to a building collapse on West Coal Street early Sunday morning, it was just the latest chapter in a saga that began more than 2 years ago with a deadly fire.
Sandra Halford said, "I didn't hear it come down, all I heard was the fire trucks coming, and it was like whoa! Not again!"
Back in February in 2013 huge flames, smoke, and water damaged nine buildings at the corner of West Coal and Jardin streets.
One woman jumped out of a window and later died of her injuries.
The green brick building on the corner had been renovated, but the damage was so extensive we could see the sky through the windows.
While that building was torn down, others remained. Some were repaired.
In the days following the fire John Halford showed us the damage to his property.
When we returned to see how the neighborhood was recovering in July of 2014 his wife showed us how it had been transformed.
Where there had been destruction, there was now a lawn and a garden.
At that time Sandra told Newswatch 16, "It is a silver lining for me,and that is terrible to say, because there is a lot of sadness there."
But just next door the ramshackle building on West Coal Street that once held a shoe store was an eyesore and a hazard.
Since then the Halfords watched the seasons change from their porch, and finally this winter they saw signs of progress.
A contractor started taking down the sloping structure that at one point looked like it might collapse right onto their new fence. But then the work stopped.
The contractor and a fire investigator tells Newswatch 16 the demolition stalled due to legal issues with the building
Halford says she understands borough officials are being slowed by absentee property owners and red tape.
"It is sad, but if you put yourself in the position of the city, the people who own these homes live out-of-state and it is very hard to do anything with them."
In July 2014 borough officials told Newswatch 16 the goal was to have new housing underway in about a year. Halford believes that is still their plan, but over the past 24 months she has learned to live with the uncertainty next door.
She said, "I was born here, I am not leaving!"
While people we spoke with in Shenandoah said they hoped the collapse would get the demolition started back up, the contractor says he still can not finish his work because of the legal issues involving the building next to the site of the collapse.
