Roof Collapse Threat Growing, Closes School District
WEST NEWBURY (CBS) – Multiple roofs have already collapsed under the weight of several feet of snow in Massachusetts, and the growing danger has canceled classes at one school district for the rest of the week.
Hingham police responded to a commercial building roof collapse on South Street late Tuesday morning. The top floor of the building was vacant and no one was injured.
Six schools in the Pentucket Regional School District, located in Merrimac, Groveland and West Newbury, won't open until after February vacation because of concerns of a possible roof collapse.
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On Tuesday morning, Rockland firefighters reported a roof collapse at Piano Mill, a piano store on Center Avenue. A $500,000 grand piano once owned by Liberace may have been damaged in the collapse.
A trained weather spotter in Rockland said 29 inches of snow fell during the most recent storm, according to the National Weather Service.
In Auburn, police said the roof collapsed Tuesday at Teamworks, an indoor training facility on St. Mark Street that is not currently in use. No one was inside at the time.
Seven workers were inside a sheet metal company in Rockland on Monday when the roof came crashing down, but all escaped injury.
"We heard a noise like a piece of metal twisting and all of a sudden the whole ceiling came in like a freight train," worker Mike Scolaro told WBZ-TV. "It was scary, I won't lie to you."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Doug Cope reports