House Demolished After Landslide In Newport Beach Thursday

NEWPORT BEACH, CA — A house that was hanging onto the edge of a steep and unstable cliffside in Newport Beach was being demolished Thursday afternoon, Fox11 news reported.

The home was red tagged by officials after the hillside the house was built on collapsed on Friday, March 3.

The house was one of the original homes built on its street, owners told Fox11. The demolition was requested by the owners, who said that they lived in the home "all their lives."

The Orange County Register reported that the demolition work took a handful of hours. Newport Beach Council Member Erik Weigand told the newspaper, "I was right there, and it was heartbreaking."

“It was 11 a.m., and they started with the garage,” he told the OC Register. “Their personal stuff was still in the house. Thirty years of memories, and it was gone in a second.”

The landslide was reported at around 10:40 a.m. March 3 in the 1900 block of Galaxy Drive in the Upper Newport Beach, according to a previous Patch report. Two other homes were affected by the landslide and yellow tagged by safety officials.

ABC7 reported that several residents were evacuated from their homes after the large landslide tore down an entire backyard, including a cement patio.