East Flagstaff Safeway evacuates following roof collapse

At around 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the Flagstaff Fire Department responded to a call from the Safeway supermarket off Highway 89 near the Flagstaff Mall. A section of ceiling toward the back of the building had caved in, forcing the grocery store to evacuate both customers and employees as the fire department evaluated the structural failure. No one was harmed. 

An hour later, nearly two dozen employees stood in below freezing temperatures, turning would-be shoppers away from the sliding glass doors as the light of day waned.

By around 5:30 p.m., firefighters emerged from the market.

The situation was described as a “partial roof collapse,” by fire captain Joe Toth.

“We’ve got structural engineers on their way up from the Valley to come do an assessment of it,” Toth reported. “We were able to shut down the store, the water and the fire protection system until they can get it shored up and figure out what was the ultimate cause and how to fix it.”

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Toth estimated that six or seven building trusses were impacted by the collapse, resulting a caved-in area of about 20 feet by 20 feet.

When Toth and his team departed to await the structural engineers, city building inspector Lloyd Drinkard came by to place orange “Unsafe to Occupy” stickers on the front doors. While the precise cause of the collapse is still unknown, Drinkard was comfortable estimating that the culprit was an excess of snow and ice.

“The immediate concern is to get the snow and ice off the collapsing area,” Drinkard said. “I think their scuppers are frozen up and there’s nowhere for the water to go. It’s all migrating to one spot there.”

Concerns of roof collapse and ice damage have been circulating throughout Flagstaff following record setting snowfall. Over a week ago, the National Weather Service advised Flagstaff property owners to remove snow from their rooftops, citing measurements that current snowfall had reached at least 15 pounds per square foot.

It would not be the first time a Flagstaff roof collapsed under the weight of snow. In 2010, the roofs of Bookmans Entertainment Exchange and the city’s Jay Lively Activity Center both succumbed to excessive snow. The same year saw roof collapses in more than 200 mobile homes in the neighboring community of Munds Park.

As for when then Flagstaff Safeway will reopen, it remains unclear.

“Hopefully not too terribly long,” Toth said. “But until it’s safe for everybody to go back in, it will be closed.”