Help! Unsupported bricks in ceiling of remodel.

[Kat Robertson]

My fiance and I are remodeling the finished basement of our "new" 1920s' home into an income property. We haven't encountered many issues until today when we opened the ceiling drywall and are horrified to have found a crumbly, 5' by 2.5' section of bricks overhead with no supports! If we hadn't opened the ceiling, it could have killed someone!

We have no idea how to handle them. We've talked to our contractor and he isn't sure either. They are next to the brick chimney for the upstairs fireplace, so maybe they are an old hearth? The bricks are smaller than the bricks used for the current hearth. We don't want to take them down until we know why they are there in case they are there for a reason.

If anyone who's what is going on, or knows someone we can contact about this, please let me know!

A lot of pictures seem to have posted sideways. The bricks are on the ceiling.