Cause Of Apple Valley Roof Collapse Not Clear
By Bill Hudson, WCCO-TV
APPLE VALLEY (WCCO) -- Inspectors have been carefully combing through the wreckage after the roof collapsed on the gymnasium at Heritage Lutheran Church in Apple Valley early Friday morning.
The 4,500 square foot gymnasium was the newest addition to the church, just two years ago. At around 12:40 a.m., the 90-foot-long roof came crashing down, leaving behind a pile of splintered debris.
Apple Valley Fire Chief Nealon Thompson was among the first on the scene.
"We appeared to have a structural collapse due to roof truss failure over the gymnasium," said Thompson.
Church staff noticed some obvious warning signs a week ago. That's when large cracks suddenly appeared in the sheetrock of the gym's ceiling. The area was immediately put off limits to the church's pre-school and kindergarten students. A structural engineer was scheduled to make an inspection visit on Friday, just hours after the collapse.
Pete Svaren's son attends the kindergarten. He says parents were informed of the suspicious roof over a week ago.
"We were told about it and they kept the kids out of there so we feel pretty comfortable with how it was handled," said Svaren.
However, the question everyone who stops to take in the scene is asking, is why? There do not appear to be any obvious answers.
"We have no idea. This is very rare that we see a roof come down and we and the engineers are looking into why that is," said Greg Brady, an Apple Valley building inspector.
Brady inspected the actual gymnasium addition construction back in 2009. He says it's too early to assign any blame on excess snow load, faulty truss design or a combination of the two.
"We don't know any more about why the roof collapsed until engineers complete their investigation and gives us a final report," said Brady.
The investigation is expected to take a week, even months.
Pastor Karl Anderson says the church is insured for losses, but will require major renovations due to water damage. When the roof caved in it ruptured the sprinkler system, sending about four inches of water into parts of offices and the sanctuary.
For now, the building is not safe for the general public to enter and will likely not be opened to church members for several days.
