Some homeowners in southeast Calgary were given quite the scare Friday night when a giant piece of ice came crashing through their roof.
Theresa Couch and her husband were watching TV in the living room of their home in the 100-block of Doverthorn Bay S.E. when they heard what they thought was an explosion.
“All of a sudden we heard this big bang and all this stuff falling,” Couch, who has lived in the house for 42 years, explained. “We thought something major fell out of the cupboard or something.”
The pair went into the kitchen but they found nothing out of the ordinary. Then they walked into the hallway to find a hole in their ceiling.
“We were pretty shook up, I’ll tell you that. I said to him, ‘Something must have fell from the sky. How could that happen?'”
The Calgary Fire Department was called to the home at around 7 p.m.
The initial call came in as an explosion, said Paul LeBlanc with the fire department.
“When I called (911) I said it was an explosion because that’s what it sounded like. It was that loud,” Couch said.
“We found a hole in the rear of the house that had gone through the roof, through the ceiling and into the basement,” LeBlanc explained.
Fire crews went inside the house and found a big chunk of ice in the basement.
“It was about a foot in diameter,” LeBlanc said. “With the assessment that we could do when our crews arrived here, and putting all of the pieces together, the only explanation that we have at this time is that it would be a piece of ice from a passing plane.
“This is the first time in my 36 years of working for the Calgary Fire Department that I’ve ever heard of this happening.
“It has happened in other parts of the world. I do believe this is the first time in Calgary.”
Luckily no one was injured by the falling piece of ice. LeBlanc said the homeowners were quite shaken.
“Other than being very scared at the time, the occupants are doing just fine.”
The fire department confirmed with airport officials that the house fell under a flight path on Friday night, LeBlanc said.
The fire department’s investigation has concluded.
The Transportation Safety Board is also investigating and said this is the second time in nine years that something like this has happened. The last time it happened was also in Calgary.
WATCH RAW VIDEO BELOW: Theresa Couch was sitting in her living room watching TV with her husband when she heard a loud bang. It turns out, a chunk of ice fell off a plane and crashed through the roof of her home, into the basement. She explains the ordeal.