Watch: Stairwell collapses during Realty Building demolition

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — A key piece of the Realty Building came down Thursday afternoon during demolition.

Crews have been working to demolish the building in downtown Youngstown after a gas explosion damaged the building in May.

One of the major parts of ending the evacuation order surrounding the building is the removal of the fire escape stairwell, which is located near the neighboring International Towers building. Those living at the International Towers were ordered to evacuate the building during the demolition.

Thursday, crews pulled down the top two floors of the stairwell attached to the building. It was the tallest part of the building that was still standing.

City officials previously said that when demolition reached the fourth floor, the evacuation order would likely be lifted. Crews have been working from the top down.

City officials have not yet released an update on the end of any evacuation order, but Youngstown Mayor Tito Brown said Thursday he was encouraged by the progress but pointed to work that still needed to be done on the fire escape.

“They have a method and the method is getting there. So hopefully in the next few days, we’ll have some good news that our tenants can move back in, the hotel can open up and the traffic downtown can start moving again,” Brown said.

A representative of the Realty Building’s owners said they expected the demolition to be completed down to the fourth floor by the weekend.

Friday, crews spent much of their time focused on the stairwell and taking that piece down.

Jason Vinkler contributed to this report.

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