WATCH ABOVE: A Moncton resident is warning people about the dangers from above after now and ice sliding off a building damaged the cab of his truck. Alex Abdelwahab reports.
MONCTON – A Moncton man is counting himself lucky that he wasn’t inside his truck when snow came off the roof of his apartment building, crushing the frame of his Chevrolet Avalanche.
“I’d been parking in that same spot for two months, every day,” Jeff LeBlanc told Global News. “I’m doing renovations on the apartment. I had electricians and plumbers going in the door that day.”
WATCH: See Moncton’s mountainous snow pile from a drone’s perspective
He estimated that about four feet of snow fell all at once from the building’s roof. LeBlanc works as a building inspector, but said he didn’t even think that snow falling from a roof could cause such destruction. He has since cleared off the roof and is sharing his story as a warning to others.
“I’m very glad that I wasn’t in it,” said LeBlanc of his mangled vehicle. “I was especially glad that none of my tenants were injured coming out of the building.”
Trinity Collision Centre manager Rob Armstrong said this isn’t the first time he’s seen a vehicle brought in with damage caused by snow falling off a roof.
Armstrong believes LeBlanc’s truck will be a complete write-off.
Roofing industry professionals said large masses of ice and snow falling off roofs with potential to cause serious damage or injury is a well-known problem. Alan Goodwin, owner of T & W Enterprises told Global News that he sells a device called “ice-jacks” that are designed to alleviate the problem.
They are installed at one-foot intervals at the bottom of a roof and force the ice and snow to break up as it passes, according to Goodwin. He said otherwise, a falling sheet of ice and snow could weigh as much as 500 lbs or more with potential to be “very dangerous.”
“I mean a person could be killed,’ said Goodwin. “Property damage, cars could be totalled. Not unheard of at all.”
Goodwin said that businesses and homeowners can be liable if snow falling off their roofs cause damage to property or hurt someone. He said it’s important to hire a professional for snow removal.
“We’re trained in roof work,” Goodwin said. “We have harnesses, the proper licences. It’s illegal for anyone to be on a roof above three meters without the proper harnesses.”
Comments