Overnight demolition of the Jefferson Apartments in Squirrel Hill officially began after a devastating fire displaced roughly 30 residents last week.

Monday morning, the fenced off area along the 5600 block of Forward Avenue had a large Schaaf Excavating Contractors crane and flood lights positioned toward what was left of the building.

While there were no construction crew members on the property at 10 a.m., the surrounding area still smelled of smoke from Tuesday’s fire and part of the right side of the building — facing the road — had been torn down.

The city issued a demolition permit at the site on Friday, following hazards amplified by the threat of imminent collapse.

Tim Schaaf, president of Schaaf Excavating Contractors said they started demolition around 7 p.m. on Sunday.

Demolition is expected to take a week. Schaff told TribLive the crews will work off of peak hours when the area is not busy.

“(They are) most concerned with safety,” Schaaf said.

Across the street from the apartment complex, Lifetime Auto Center Assistant Manager Joe Sickler, who had set up chairs and gave blankets to the residents who lost their homes on Tuesday, was relived to be back working on cars, following the fire.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation shut down the ramp from Forward Avenue to westbound Interstate 376 on Tuesday, which blocked traffic from getting in and out of the area. Sickler said the closure cost the auto shop around $8,000 to $12,000 dollars over the two days.

Sickler had come into work on the day of the fire as normal and by 8:30 a.m. he remembers the building being “full blaze.”

Some of the residents were frequent customers of the auto shop, Sickler said.

“We know them on first name basis,” he said. “They cried, hugged each other.”