Front Falls Off Camden Row Home With Family Inside

A family was able to escape without harm after the front of their Camden, New Jersey row home came crumbling down late Sunday.

"I was laying down and I heard a swoosh," homeowner Alyce Ali told NBC10. "Then my husband told everybody to get up and get out of the house." Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

The noise Ali heard was the front of her home along the 400 block of Line Street collapsing around 11:30 p.m. Sunday. Along with her husband, another adult and 2-year-old were also inside the home.

Emergency crews worked overnight to stabilize the home and prevent a further collapse. As of Monday afternoon, much of the damage remained — bricks and debris scattered all over the ground in front of the home.

Ali said their home was damaged after the city tore down the home next door about 11 years ago. She says the family has been asking the city to make repairs, but that they never happened.

Camden officials told NBC10 they issued an uninhabitable permit and slid it under the family's door five days ago. The city now plans to pinpoint the cause of the collapse and review the old permit. They don't believe the teardown from over a decade ago caused the collapse however.

"We've gotta look at records," said Camden Business Administrator Robert Corrales. "Was it the city? Was it privately demolished? We're looking at all the facts first before we assess who's to blame."