Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Snow causes roof to collapse in Pulaski
The Conny Oil building on Commerce Street is considered a total loss.
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From today's paper
- Snow-weary folks brace for more
- Roanoke Valley crews head north to help with snowfall
- Snow causes roof to collapse in Pulaski
- Dan Casey: Southerners scoff at shoveling sidewalks
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PULASKI -- Hazardous materials crews will be working for several days to clean up the mess left behind when the roof over an oil storage building in Pulaski collapsed from the weight of heavy snow over the weekend.
The roof fell about 10 p.m. Friday over an area of Conny Oil on Commerce Street where drums of oil are stored, bursting some of them, Pulaski Fire Marshal Chip Hutchinson said. He said the Department of Environmental Quality was notified, but because there is no danger to the public and the oil is not leaking on the ground, hazmat crews waited until Monday to begin cleanup. Electricity to the building was shut off Friday night, he said.
"The good news is that everything is contained to that site," Assistant County Administrator Robert Hiss said. "I think it's well under control."
Hutchinson said the roof fell over about 100 55-gallon drums, 300 five-gallon buckets and several cardboard boxes filled with small containers of motor oil, transmission fluid and hydraulic fluid. The building is also used to store gasoline but the roof didn't collapse over the area where it sits, he said.
The pieces of roof and debris that fell on the containers will first be removed, Hutchinson said, then the oil will be cleaned up. It won't be clear exactly how much was spilled until crews are able to remove the roof.
"We want to bring them in to make sure it doesn't escalate," Hiss said of the hazmat crews. "We have no indication that it would."
The chances of the oil leaking onto anyone else's property or into a nearby creek are "real slim, but we don't want to take any chances," Hutchinson said.
The Conny Oil building is a total loss, Hutchinson said. He said a damage estimate wasn't available Monday.
Hiss said the county has gotten about 10 reports of damage caused by the weight of the snow, including damage to carports, canopies and gutters. No injuries and no serious damage to homes have been reported, he said.
Hiss said residents and business owners should be aware of the potential for the increased weight to cause damage. Older roofs, lightweight metal roofs and flat roofs are more susceptible to damage, he said.
However, he said, people shouldn't try to remove snow from their roofs because the weight of a person could cause immediate damage.
People who notice any sagging, cracking or separation in a structure should notify their local building inspector or fire marshal's office, Hiss said.
Anyone who hears cracking or thinks they have an emergency should call 911.
