CORNER BROOK, N.L. — Craig Harnum was keeping a vigilant eye on the situation as members of the Corner Brook Fire Department used its ladder truck to get a closer view of what was happening with the roof on the Steers Distribution Limited building on Brook Street earlier this afternoon.
Just after the noon hour, the roof on the building collapsed.
Harnum, deputy chief of the department, said there was no one in the building at the time.
A person at the scene said the four employees who normally work there had just left for lunch, but Harnum could not confirm if that was accurate.
The building is one of the older ones on the street, in the city’s downtown business district. It serves as a warehouse for things like appliances and flooring.
As for what happened, Harnum said it was hard to say.
“It’s an older building, probably just the weight of all this snow could have added extra weight to the structure and the roof just couldn’t take anymore.”
Harnum said 75 per cent of the roof had collapsed into the building.
“Our fear now is, with that type of collapse, it has a tendency to push the walls out, so we're still expecting the possibility of the building totally collapsing.”
As a precaution, the department evacuated adjacent buildings.
With the closeness of some of the buildings, Harnum said the fear is, if it did collapse,it could push in on the walls of the other buildings.
“If things do start to get worse than what they are right now, it’s better to be prepared than not.”
The department called in Newfoundland Power to cut power to the building and was setting up a command centre on the site.
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