Three injured in Aurora collapse; crews brought down unstable sections

Scaffolding and part of a brick building’s exterior wall collapsed into the roadway at about 6:37 p.m. Nov. 11, injuring three people in downtown Aurora. The collapse occurred in the 100 block of East Galena Boulevard, near North Broadway.

City information reported by local outlets said the three suffered minor injuries and were expected to recover fully. The building was evacuated as a precaution, and responders used a drone to assess its upper portion. Reports described the upper-floor apartments as vacant; the building also had commercial space on the first floor.

Rubble buried a vehicle, but city officials said no one was inside the car or the building when the collapse happened. The city’s initial notice said the intersection was closed during the emergency response.

Crews brought down unstable sections the next day i

On Nov. 12, after an evaluation by the city’s Development Services Department, the Aurora Fire Department used targeted water operations in a controlled collapse to bring down portions officials considered structurally unsound. Cleanup continued that day.

The building had a separate masonry-veneer failure in 2025, when part of its brick facade fell into the roadway. City officials said that incident was unrelated to the Nov. 11 collapse. Local reports said the city issued a citation tied to the earlier failure and a permit for facade repairs in 2026; ABC7 reported that the repair work had not begun.

A city official told CBS Chicago that a July 2026 inspection found no structural concerns. Officials said surveillance footage appeared to show the roof collapsing first, but described that as an initial indication. The cause remained undetermined in reports published Nov. 12.

Officials said structural evaluation would help determine whether the building could be saved or would need to be demolished. No final decision had been announced in reports published Nov. 12.