The first of the three rooming houses in Moncton deemed uninhabitable is now a pile of rubble.

The units were condemned on Friday. Monday’s demolition came as a welcome sight to neighbours.

“The landlord's not keeping them up, they're run down, they're dumps, they don't want to do any repairs and they don't care who they put into their buildings,” says area resident Scott Haddle.

A complaint lodged last week prompted an investigation by the fire marshal.

“We would look at such things as proper egress for people to get out, early detections and just overall living conditions to ensure they are not liable to fire,” says Deputy Chief Charles LeBlanc of the Moncton Fire Department.

The Ashford Group bought the properties back in November. They thought they were empty because the previous owner said he gave the tenants eviction notices.

A representative from the Ashford Group didn't want to appear on camera, but says they were told there were eight people living in the buildings before notices were issued by the previous owner. The Ashford Group inspected them and determined there were closer to 30, including a number of squatters.

The condition of one of the apartments was too much for some crew members.

“We just went inside the house to make sure there's nobody inside the house. You never know, sometimes people go in there so we just check to make sure to be safe,” says crewman Donald Hache.

The new owners say they issued another round of eviction notices late last week.

“Members from my division were on site periodically during the weekend to assist the tenants to remove their personal belongings,” LeBlanc says. “To my understanding as it stands right now, there's no personal belongings left in the buildings.”

The Ashford Group says they're considering a combination of residential and commercial property for the site. As for the tenants, some have moved into already overcrowded shelters until the can find another place to live.

The buildings are coming down one by one. All should be gone by Thursday.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Jonathan MacInnis.