AT LEAST 15 COLLAPSES IN MASS.
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| Polar Beverages employees Andy Richardson, left, and Mike Gallo, both of Auburn, clear a heavy layer of snow from the roof of the company's Auburn distribution center on Southbridge Street. (T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN) |
george.barnes@telegram.com
When he looked closer, he realized the fabric roof of the massive indoor sports complex had collapsed. More than three-quarters of the roof of the 43,000-square-foot building had been crushed by the weight of snow, its metal supports bent and twisted.
Mr. DeRoma, general manager of General Insulation Co., across the street from the complex, said normally the building sheds snow, but he suspects it was not heated, allowing snow to collect.
Building collapses have become a major concern this year for state and local fire and emergency officials. The Auburn collapse was the first locally, but likely not the last. Later in the day, the Spencer Fire Department was called to a house at 13 Donnelly Cross Road that was in imminent danger of collapse, Spencer Fire Chief Robert P. Parsons said late Tuesday afternoon.
Auburn Assistant Fire Chief Glenn Johnson said the collapse of the Auburn Sportsplex building has the town considering the safety of other buildings.
"It's something we're addressing right now, at least on the town side," he said.
The town is looking at the roofs of its buildings with an eye toward making them safe. He said the Fire Department recommends that owners of businesses and homes look at their properties as well. He said if residents do not feel comfortable removing the snow themselves, they should hire a contractor.
Assistant Chief Johnson said indicators of serious problems include visible cracks or a cracking sound that might be beams breaking.
With nearly 7 feet of snow piled up in some places, even the light and fluffy kind has people worried.
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| John Shea of 68 Deerfield St. uses a roof rake to clear snow from his home. (T&G Staff/STEVE LANAVA |
On Monday, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported several roof collapses around the state. Peter C. Judge, a spokesman for MEMA, said that as of Tuesday morning there had been 15 roof collapses in Massachusetts since the snow started piling up in late January.
"A majority have been in the southeast part of the state," he said.
Mr. Judge said cities and towns in that part of the state got more snowfall in the most recent storm than other Massachusetts communities. He said most of the buildings that collapsed were commercial or industrial with flat roofs. He said a couple of homes suffered roof and porch damage.
MEMA issued a reminder to residents and business owners Jan. 29 about the dangers of snow buildup on roofs and also suggestions on the safe removal of snow. In Leominster a man was injured when he fell going down a hatch after snowblowing a roof at 41 Holman Ave.
The concern over roof collapses continues to grow with every storm.
"With additional snow expected both later this week and early next week it is certainly a concern," Mr. Judge said.
This year's series of large and medium-sized storms is somewhat similar to those of 2011, when the state had a record number of building collapses. That year the snow was heavier.
"We saw 200 to 300 structures collapse over a very short amount of time," Mr. Judge said.
In Auburn alone, four buildings collapsed, including the Worcester Winneston Co., a plumbing contractor at 100 Southbridge St., and All Battery Center at 139 Washington St. Last year in Worcester, the roof and upper story of a 122-year-old three-decker at 142 Eastern Ave. collapsed. Eventually the building had to be razed.
Polar Beverages had a crew out removing snow Tuesday afternoon from its office building adjacent to its manufacturing facility. Jim Doyle, vice president of operations for Polar, said the snow needed to be removed from the 25,000-square-foot roof of the office building because of stress from the snow load.
"We've seen some deformation," he said.
Mr. Doyle said the much larger 325,000-square-foot manufacturing building roof is flat, but because it was higher up, the high winds that accompanied many of the storms blew much of the snow away. In 2011 that building was the one that developed structural problems.
The Worcester public school system has several modular buildings with flat roofs that it monitors.
"We have an ongoing practice to remove snow from the roofs of modular units," said Brian E. Allen, chief financial and operations officer for the schools. "This process is ongoing and will continue through the rest of the winter as needed."
Whitney Barnard of the George A. Barnard Co. of Worcester said his company clears roofs in the winter when it is not building them. He said the company has been hard-pressed to keep up with the many calls for snow and ice removal. He said the calls are mostly for removal of snow and ice buildup that is causing ice dams, but there have also been some customers looking to remove the snow load to prevent building collapse.
Mr. Barnard said that in his experience, most buildings are more supportive of snow load than people expect, but buildings with light steel construction are especially at risk. He said drifting that has happened in recent storms adds to the problem .
Unless a roof is damaged or decayed, it should be able to safely support a weight of 20 pounds per square inch. Much more than that puts the roof at risk of collapse, according to the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. One inch of ice, 3 to 5 inches of packed snow or 10 to 12 inches of fresh snow equal 5 pounds per square foot of roof weight.
In Worcester in the past 30 days more than 82 inches of snow has fallen. That amount is consistent with levels in several communities in southern Worcester County. Roughly translated, if it were all light new snow, that would be about 40 pounds per square foot on a roof. But that is the ideal situation. In fact, much of the snow has been packed down over time and some roofs have large drifts on them.
Contact George Barnes at george.barnes@telegram.com.
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