‘Don’t see this happen very often’: Commercial building near Brockville collapses from weight of snow on roof

On Monday, Feb. 17, word spread of an apparent building collapse in the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley due to what officials assume was a heavy snow load accumulated on the roof due to the weekend snowstorm.

Fortunately, Township Administrator Rob Nolan told Brockvilleist that they believe the commercial structure was not in use at this time and no one was inside at the time of collapse. At the time of publication, there have been no reported injuries. 

A utilities company was called to the address at 4502 Hanna Drive the same day to disconnect all power and utilities for future on- site safety. Nolan could not confirm what company this was or what exact operations were completed on site. Based on the reported address, it is believed this building belongs to or is associated with the business Con-Tech Systems Ltd.

While the building is privately owned, due to the nature of the collapse, the Township of Elizabethtown-Kitley does have to follow “orders to remedy the building as an unsafe building,” according to Nolan. ”There may have been some precipitating factors with the building but we don’t see this happen very often. Roofs are built to withstand a lot.” 

The building is now deemed unfit for habitation but the private owner will be solely responsible for dealing with clean-up, repairs and any future actions as approved through the Township’s mandates.