Advice to Prevent Roof Collapses
As snow continues to fall and with no where to go, some roofs are cracking under pressure.
Michael Woodard with Absolutely Clean Window Washing said, "An important part of the situation with flat roofs, commercial roofs, or roofs that are 6-12 or are under are the ones that are most at risk of a collapse."
He was one of the many people and companies clearing roofs on Tuesday. Andy Vinca, owner of Angelo's Roofing explained their process and said, "We remove the ice and snow from the critical areas on the house and we go two or three foot up on the eves. On a flat roof, we take care of the drains and just the critical areas."
What happens when this snow or ice build becomes too much? A roof collapse is possible and at this point this can take a turn.
Fairfield Volunteer firefighters spent the afternoon at a home in Harborcreek working to clean up a collapsed garage roof. Cracking or creaking in the for could be a sign of a roof collapse, at that point, a call to 911 is necessary.
Brian Mesaros, the Emergency Management Coordinator for Erie County said, "If it's an imminent threat or it has collapsed, then definitely call 911, we want to make sure everyone is safe and the structure is safe to be around, so nothing else happens after that."
A few hours of shoveling or hiring a company could be the difference between having roof or not. After calling 911, the next calls would be to your insurance company or construction company about repairs and costs