Part of a long-vacant building collapsed late Monday night in Danvers, leaving no injuries — and no one really surprised, either.
The back quarter of the two-story brick building at 122 E. Exchange St. crumbled around 9:40 p.m. It appeared the east-side exterior wall gave way, leaving a pile of bricks and a tangle of wood framing and roofing dangling between the still-intact rear wall and the rest of the structure.
Danvers firefighters, Caisley and other village workers used barricades and yellow caution tape Monday night to block Exchange and Jackson streets around the building, but otherwise they left it alone. Whether more of the building would collapse wasn't clear, and officials weren't taking any chances.
"It's gonna do what it's gonna do," said Danvers Fire Chief Glenn Rosecrans, noting hidden structural faults may give way under the stress. "You don't know what it will do until it falls."
The building had been cordoned off since August when large