Partial roof collapse closes part of sidewalk in downtown Holyoke

HOLYOKE, MA (WGGB/WSHM) - A portion of a Holyoke sidewalk is closed off after part of the building’s roof fell off and landed on the sidewalk.

Pedestrians in downtown Holyoke should avoid a portion of sidewalk along High Street after the city’s Department of Public Works crews blocked it off because, on Tuesday morning, a piece of the roof from the building at 276 High Street fell off and landed on the sidewalk.

“There was some debris on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, we had some neighborhood kids who may have run away with the debris, so we don’t know what it was,” said Holyoke Fire Capt. David Rex.

Rex told us that the call came in around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Crews responded and immediately shut down a portion of the street. They then used drone technology to examine the building.

“We did a cursory inspection and then we put our drone up to see what we were looking at, so that’s we’re going through right now. We have the building inspector on-site. We flew the drone for him, so he could see and we’re getting ready to enter the building to get up to the roof and see how bad the roof is,” Rex added.

Thankfully, no one was injured from the falling debris and no one was inside the building at the time. Rex believes weather may have played a role in the roof deteriorating.

“Unfortunately, with all this rain, the weird weather pattern we’ve had over the winter, it’s been a lot more water than anything. If the roof isn’t completely intact, this is what we deal with,” Rex noted.

The building will remain blocked off until a further assessment is made.