Snow causes multiple roof collapses around region

The roof at Bailey's Firehouse in Falls Church, Va. collapsed early Monday morning. All 18 firefighters were asleep inside but were able to get out and no one was hurt.

The firefighters have been moved to another station and Fairfax Fire Spokesman Dan Schmidt says emergency response times are not effected.

Crews are still assessing how much damage was done, but the roof did collapse on a fire engine, fire truck and medic units underneath in the engine bay. Schmidt says the station is 35 years old, but the roof was replaced 12 years ago. They think snow caused the collapse.

The Prince William Ice Rink's roof collapsed Saturday. People inside were evacuated when a beam started twisting. No one was hurt. The building was totally destroyed. The owner tells InsideNova.com it's a total loss, but he will reopen as soon as possible.

The roof at a brick commercial strip store in Forestville collapsed Sunday afternoon. Prince George's County Fire Spokesman Mark Brady says no one was inside. The store was on the 7900 block of Penn Randall Place.

A tree fell on the roof of Joshua Temple Firstborn Church on Sheriff Road in Northeast on Saturday afternoon, D.C. Fire and EMS spokesman Pete Piringer says.

The weight of the tree and the snow made the roof collapse and then the walls gave way. Piringer says the only thing left is the church's steeple.

No one was inside the one-and-a-half-story wood frame church when it collapsed. The homes on either side of the church were not damaged, Piringer says.

On Saturday morning, part of the roof of a house collapsed on the 3400 block of 10th Street in Northeast.

"This is one of our worst fears," says D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin. "If the roof systems begin to collapse it's going to take a lot of resources and is going to be very difficult."

Rubin says that there are no injuries, and that one person is inside the house, but is safe.

Emergency workers have been called to a half dozen partial collapses of buildings in D.C. on Saturday, Piringer says.

Rubin says that there needs to be preventative maintenance done to roofs before major storms like this.

"A mere 250 gallons of water, which is not a lot of water, equals one ton of weight," says Rubin.

The Archdiocese of Washington says the roof of St. John School in Hollywood, Md., collapsed destroying six classrooms, the computer lab, library and offices.

In Virginia, a hangar roof collapsed at the Dulles Jet Center around 8 a.m. Saturday morning, according to Rob Yingling, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority spokesman.

Yingling says there were five people spending the night at the complex, but they weren't injured.

He says they suspect significant damage to the hangar, and there were four private jets inside, but they have not done a full damage report yet.

The airport authority says there isn't any fear of a collapse at the terminal.

A storage warehouse in California, Md. on the 2200 block of Three Notch Road completely collapsed Saturday morning, according to St. Mary's County Fire and Rescue.

A firefighter cut his hand, but there were no other injuries were reported.

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