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Historic Philly building partially collapses, littering street with debris

No injuries were reported from the partial collapse, which damaged vehicles in the city's Francisville section.

Debris covers North 17th Street in Philadelphia after a building's partial collapse Sunday night. No injuries were reported.
Debris covers North 17th Street in Philadelphia after a building's partial collapse Sunday night. No injuries were reported.Read moreElizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
    by Rob Tornoe
    Published 

A building in Philadelphia’s Francisville neighborhood partially collapsed Sunday night, damaging vehicles and littering streets with bricks and debris.

The collapse happened around 9:30 p.m. Sunday in the 700 block of North 17th Street. A portion of the facade of the Darrah School Realty apartment building, which was formerly the Lydia Darrah School building. The building itself remains intact.

No injuries have been reported, and the Red Cross did not receive any calls from displaced residents seeking assistance. Both North 17th Street and Folsom Streets were closed following the collapse, and the building was being inspected by members of the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections to make sure it remained safe to occupy.

The building was built in the late 1920s and named after Lydia Darrah, a Revolutionary War figure who helped the colonists while Philadelphia was occupied by the British. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.