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At least fifty-six Purcellville residents have been displaced after their apartment buildings were determined to be unsafe Thursday.

At least fifty-six Purcellville residents have been displaced after their apartment buildings were determined to be unsafe Thursday.

The 24 apartments are part of the Purcellville East complex on 16th Street. As of Thursday evening, Loudoun County officials had contacted families at 18 of the 22 occupied units.

According to Loudoun County Fire Marshal Captain Joshua Hottle, fire and rescue personnel responded to a call at the apartments on Sunday when a stairway to the second floor collapsed.

“Between the building code and the fire code, the issues are primarily the stairwell at this point. The occupants on the second floor, in the event of an emergency, would not be able to evacuate,” Hottle said.

In addition, residents said they have concerns about black mold and said they are often unable to get the property management company to respond to requests to fix items like leaky sinks, hot water and air conditioning.

Deputy County Administrator Danny Davis said the county has had difficulty working with representatives from Purcellville East and that there was no one from the company on the property. Loudoun Now called Purcellville East at the number listed with the company, but the number was not in service.

Acting Director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, Safety and Security Jacob Bull said the county is assisting residents with overnight accommodations at hotels.

“We're going to have the first bus here to transport them in about 90 minutes or so,” Bull said at around 6 p.m. Thursday night. “We're allowing them to go in and gather belongings and things, and we're making sure that they're safe while they're doing that. That way, they have the things they need for the next few days, clothing and medicine, and gather their pets' food and things like that.”

Typically, providing housing to residents after a notice of violation is the responsibility of the complex’s management company, but Davis said Purcellville East has been unresponsive to those requests, and the county government will provide housing for the short-term.

“At this point, we're just focused on tonight, so that's been our focus here over the last few hours or so. We are working on a plan for a longer-term housing need, but I don't have that information for you right now,” Bull said.

Mayor Christopher Bertaut thanked the county for its work and said collaboration between the county and town had been occurring all day.

“It's an ongoing situation, and as has already been stated, they're planning for the long term. The management company is not as responsive as we would like, so that doesn't bode well for speedy resolution, but we’re trying to collaboratively find as many as many ways to address this as possible for the safety of the residents,” Bertaut said.

Community members have been raising concerns about conditions at the apartments for years. Those include BetterALife founder Elizabeth Ford, who works closely with residents there.

“I've been trying and trying, and I text and I send pictures to the management,” Ford said. “… I spent the last two years in the Town Council office when the mayor was vice mayor, asking for help in this community back then, because they have been struggling for many, many years since I started coming out here five years ago.”

This is a situation that Ford said she knew was coming.