LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — The view from Skycam 16 shows the progress made to fill up the gaping hole caused by a mine subsidence behind the Rock Street Apartment Complex in The Glen Lyon Section of Newport Township.
It's a much different sight than what people who live here saw Sunday.
"I knew nothing of it until a fireman had to push in the side piece of my air conditioner to get into my apartment, unlocked it and opened up my bedroom door, and said 'Fire department, you have to get out," said Paul Distler.
Crews from the Department of Environmental Protection have been working since Monday to backfill the deep hole. Leaving several people unable to return home.
Paul Distler has lived in apartment 73 for two years.
He tells Newswatch 16 that the Luzerne County Housing Authority was able to relocate him to another unit on the property since the building he lived in has been condemned.
"I knew nothing about what happened in 1983, so had I known, it would have been in the back of my mind that this is a possibility, but who would have ever thought that a hole was going to open up in their backyard just outside your back door, so yeah I was really surprised," said Distler.
Distler says he lost a patio table, grill, and other items from his backyard in the subsidence, but has been able to get other belongings out of the apartment.
He and his neighbors have mixed feelings about possibly moving back in, hoping history doesn't repeat itself again, here in Glen Lyon.
"I'm 50/50 about moving back in there for the simple fact that the hole opened up in '83, it opened up again now who is to say it won't open up again so I have these concerns," explained Distler.
The Luzerne County Housing Authority says it's still unclear when people who live in the building will be able to return.
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