Sysco roof collapses after Halifax slammed by snow

Employees at a food distribution warehouse in Halifax are OKafter a roof collapse yesterday afternoon.

It happened at the Sysco facility in Duck Pond Road in the Lakeside Industrial Park.

Chuck Bezanson, a division commander for Halifax Fire and Emergency, says when fire crews arrived they did a structural assessment and determined there was little they could do but cordon off the area.

"Due to the significance of the operation we brought in our structural collapse people to make an assessment to see if there was anything we could do. We were unable to prevent further collapse so we made the building that collapsed a no-go zone. It was cordoned off," he says.

"Due to the way it was built it was safe to do that and we created a safe corridor for them to continue doing business."

Sysco is a major supplier of food to restaurants and hotels.

Bezanson says the fire department also responded to a total roof collapse of a old auto supply shop on Sackville Drive.

In that case, the business was no longer in operation and no one was inside at the time.

Bezanson says snow accumulation on roofs is an ongoing problem with so much snow build up over the past few days.

He says people should be aware of thatand take precautions whenever possible.