Roofs, buildings collapse after storm

This building, located behind Niles Hairsyling Salon, lost its roof Monday afternoon. Several buildings along East Cherry Street were evacuated due to the strong smell of gas from a line severed in the collapse. Cavener's Library and Office Supplies rents the building from an absentee landlord for storage.

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

A weekend storm dumped another four to six inches of snow on top of the frozen sleet and ice that was left from the storm last weekend. The result was predictable -- overstrained roofs collapsed in Nevada and Vernon County, causing substantial damage to the buildings and disrupting commerce in downtown Nevada.

In Sheldon three roofs came down; the Sheldon Seed Company had one section of roof collapse, a garage at the corner of First and Main collapsed, and the Jones Twine Company lost the front of the building when its roof collapsed. No one was injured in any of the Sheldon incidents.

In Nevada, the roof of a building that was being used for storage by Cavener's Library and Office Supply collapsed early Monday afternoon. The structure that failed is nestled behind a row of buildings lining Cherry Street, just east of the Square, and behind Niles Hairstyling Salon on Washington Street. Barriers were erected in the alley leading to the structure and remain there today. City officials, busy with issues relating to the collapse, were not available for comment this morning about the disposition of the remains of the building or whether future inspections of other downtown buildings will be conducted.

A gas line was broken by the collapse and the Nevada Fire Department ordered the evacuation of several buildings along East Cherry until the gas could be vented and the danger passed.

On Monday, workers on the roof of the Vernon County jail shovel snow and ice off to help reduce the weight of ice and snow. Water from melting snow poured into the structure, heightening the need for quick removal.

Some citizens waited and watched, but most went elsewhere during the incident.

A suspicious odor was again reported in the area at about 10:45 this morning, which turned out to be a broken freon line on an air conditioner.

Dana Cavener said the building was in use when the roof collapsed but no one was in it at the time and no one was hurt.

Paul's Garage lost its roof and east wall Saturday due to the weight of the snow that the second storm in a week brought to the area.

"It had some stuff in it," Cavener said. "But it's just stuff and stuff's replaceable."

Sheriff Ron Peckman said the buildup of snow and ice caused a lot of leaks in the building which houses the Vernon County jail and Vernon County Sheriff's Office, which is also located on Cherry Street, a few blocks from the building that suffered the collapse. The jail and sheriff's offices were not close enough to the gas leak to warrant evacuation of the facility.

"We had leaks all over that caused a lot of problems," Peckman said. "We have pans and buckets out all over and we lost some files to water damage."

In addition to the leaks the buildup caused consternation over the possibility of a roof collapse and some concern from the public over the sight of people walking on the roof.

"We had workers up on the roof to get rid of the ice and snow," Peckman said. "We got calls asking us if someone was trying to escape."

No collapse occurred, but Peckman said that the workers found problems that could be costly to repair.

"They said the roof was waterlogged and wherever they stepped it squished," Peckman said.

Peckman said he wasn't sure if insurance would cover the necessary repairs but that he was checking into the possibility.

Meanwhile, county officials continue to work toward a proposal to construct a new jail. Meetings relating to bids and ideas from architects are slated for today.