Substantial cracks appear on Tighes Hill home as Fire and Rescue NSW evacuates nearby resident.
21 April 2023 – (ABC Newcastle: Bridget Murphy )
Wide cracks have appeared in the facade of a townhouse under renovation in Newcastle, north of Sydney with Fire and Rescue NSW establishing an exclusion zone around the area.
The townhouse on Elizabeth Street, Tighes Hill sustained substantial structural damage at about 8:00am today.
The front facade of the house has significant cracks, several centimeters wide and the side of the structure has visible signs of sinking.
“It’s quite a nice old building … it looks like it’s just coming apart,” said local resident Murray Love.
Fire and Rescue NSW leading officer at Lambton fire station Peter Curzi says the situation is “stable”, an exclusion zone has been established with neighbouring residents evacuated.
“We’ve got monitoring laser equipment that Fire and Rescue have set up to monitor the situation,” he said.
No one was inside the building and there have been no injuries.
Mr Curzi said the owners of the property are currently renovating.
“The plan going forward will be to sure up the structure with the advice of structural engineers,” Mr Curzi said.
“The plan is to stabilise the structure — whether to use support or remove the unstable parts of the building.”
