Demolition begins after explosion

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Demolition has begun in the south side Indianapolis neighborhood damaged by a massive explosion.

“It's sad to see someone's home come down.  I'm close friends with the family whose house is going down now.  Their memories are getting torn down. It's part of the process. Everybody I talked to understands. It's bittersweet” said neighbor Michael Phillips.

The Department of Code Enforcement has said 33 homes will need to be demolished. Six homes had been set to be torn down Monday, but delays in permitting and other paperwork delayed the work to Tuesday.

One home would be demolished by the end of Tuesday, the company completing the work, ABC Contractors, said. The lot will be cleared by the end of the week, and the homeowners were planning to rebuild. 

On such a job, said ABC's Sabrina Swinehart, the crew usually consists of two or three people. On this job, however, the company has six people on site to make sure everything runs safely.

“The strategy is we are trying to save the basement which, after we are done and they do the rebuild, they will have an engineer come in and certify the basement” said Swinehart.

Residents can fight a demolition order by hiring an engineer and submitting a written plan to rebuild, DCE said. As of Monday, no such appeals had been filed. Property owners of the homes slated for demolition have been notified through email, in person or by notices posted on the homes. 

Two people were killed and about 90 homes were damaged when an explosion rocked the south side neighborhood of Richmond Hill on Nov. 10. The explosion is being investigated as a homicide after all accidental causes were ruled out.