Philadelphia cracking down on demolition work in several locations

WEST PHILADELPHIA - June 11, 2013 (WPVI) -- The City of Philadelphia is starting to crack down on demolition work in the wake of last week's deadly building collapse that claimed six lives.

The demolition of a 3-story Victorian home in Southwest Philadelphia abruptly stopped after the city says it discovered issues with the tear-down.

L&I has inspected 300 demolition sites since Thursday. 97 were active.

From Southwest to North Philadelphia, the department has stopped work at 5 sites for problems like expired insurance and licenses.

Inspectors say the walls at a site at 47th and Chester weren't braced properly, just like the walls of the building at 22nd and Market Streets which came down, killing 6 people, injuring 13.

"It's just a shame that building had to fall before they got deep into this," said Darnell Johnson of Southwest Philadelphia.

L&I also says it will increase oversight of private demolition contractors through heightened permitting and inspection requirements.

Earlier in the day Action News was at a demolition site on North 63rd Street in West Philadelphia where we found unsupported walls and a cluttered mess.

We confirmed Center City building collapse suspect Sean Benschop worked on the project.

After our repeated calls to City Hall, an inspector showed up and a contractor arrived to take down those unstable walls.

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Philadelphia cracking down on demolition work in several locations