Woman displaced by ceiling collapse
The interior of Alisa McGant’s apartment at 544 Craighead St., Canonsburg, is coated with drywall and dust after a ceiling collapse Saturday. Canonsburg officials are still investigating the cause of the collapse.
Alisa McGant stands in the doorway of her apartment at 544 Craighead St. in Canonsburg where the ceiling collapsed Saturday.
The apartment building at 544 Craighead St., Canonsburg, where the ceiling of an apartment collapsed over the weekend.
CANONSBURG – Alisa McGant came home from work Saturday night to discover the ceiling in her apartment collapsed, letting loose a large amount of drywall and dust-like material over every surface, including the couch where she sometimes sleeps.
“Thank God I wasn’t in there when it happened because I couldn’t remove the drywall. It was so heavy,” said McGant.
The residents of the apartments at 544 Craighead St. were allowed to move back in Monday morning after being told they needed to vacate Saturday night when the building was deemed unfit for human occupancy.
On Monday, Canonsburg code enforcement officer Troy Lucas was at the apartment, where caution tape and signs warning residents not to enter were removed.
Lucas said the situation is still under investigation and refused to comment further.
Councilman John Severine, who was also at the scene, refused to comment. A message left for Mayor Dave Rhome was not returned.
McGant moved in about four months ago, after the death of her husband. They lived in Hickory for 20 years, but after he died, McGant got a new job and a new apartment in Canonsburg.
“I thought I’d start over,” she said.
Now, most of her belongings are ruined and she can’t retrieve her husband’s ashes. The only shoes she has are those provided by a church over the weekend.
“I’m afraid to wear my clothes,” she said. “This stuff was blowing around and making everyone cough,” she said of the insulation that was lying on the ground around her front door.
Holly Davis, who, with her son, lives a few doors down from McGant, said she doesn’t feel safe in the apartment.
“I’m putting my stuff in storage” she said, indicating a crack in her ceiling. “Her (McGant’s) ceiling came down without warning. I’m not moving back in.”
McGant said she contacted the owner, who told her that he is on vacation and she would have to pay for a hotel herself.
“I want his insurance company to put me up until I find another place to stay,” McGant said. “I’m not going back in there.”
Gregg and Aimee Dodd of McDonald are listed as owners of the building by the Washington County treasurer and tax revenue offices.
A phone number for the owners, provided by McGant, was answered by a woman who said it was a wrong number.
McGant, who is staying in a hotel, said she was told by Lucas that the apartment would be cleaned and she would be able to move back in. Surveying the damage, McGant was skeptical.
“I don’t know how I’m going to do that,” she said. “Look at this place.”