Fire-Damaged Pennsylvania Apartment Complex To Be Torn Down

Officials have approved plans to tear down parts of a suburban Philadelphia apartment complex that were destroyed by fire last summer.

The eight-alarm blaze Aug. 13 at the Riverwalk at Millennium apartments along the Schuylkill River in Conshohocken destroyed 125 units that housed 375 people. Only minor injuries were reported.

Building inspector Barbara Kearney tells The Philadelphia Inquirer that the borough signed off on the application Tuesday, leaving the owners free to proceed with demolition.

Spokeswoman Lauren McDonald of the property-management firm Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt, Md., said last week that demolition could begin within days and take four to eight weeks.

She said plans call for the buildings to be replaced, but the timetable is uncertain.