‘Not habitable’: Oro-Medonte roof collapse displaces elderly residents

The heavy snow and ice have caused a roof to cave in on a home on Line 9 in Oro-Medonte.

A quiet evening was interrupted shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday night when emergency crews were called to a report of a roof collapse at a residential home in Oro-Medonte.

When crews arrived, they found a house with significant roof damage. Oro-Medonte Fire Chief Roree Payment determined the collapse had occurred earlier, and a concerned person later contacted 911 after noticing the damage.

“We were able to determine there was some significant damage that occurred to the home’s roof structure as a result of some significant snow loading,” Payment said.

Officials said two elderly people were still inside the home at the time. Fortunately, neither was injured.

With help from hydro crews, Payment said, electricity to the house was disconnected to ensure safety. Police officers assisted by transporting the residents to temporary lodging.

Officials say the home is not currently habitable.

Payment is warning property owners across the region to pay close attention to how much snow builds up and to ensure it gets addressed before it’s too late.

“We probably just don’t understand just how quickly that weight can increase and the more ice we have on there, the less ability we have to lose some of that snow on there because it just kind of grabs on to it,” Payment said.

Roof clearing experts CTV News spoke with on Monday said they have been flooded with requests over recent weeks. They warn it’s not just collapses that are the only concern.

“Once the ice builds up around the perimetres in the valley as things melt, that has no where to go and that’s what we’ve been getting a lot of calls about,” said Mike Brzozowski from JN Roofing and Contracting. “People are saying, the walls are leaking, windows are leaking, water is coming on pot lights and electrical outlets - those are called ice dams.”