No Injuries, No Hazmat Involved In BlueLinx Building Collapse

By John Voket

“The best outcome from a potentially bad situation,” was the way Botsford Fire Rescue Chief Wayne Ciaccia described a building collapse at an industrial facility on South Main Street just before noon on February 1.

The incident at the BlueLinx facility initially drew half a dozen responders plus a deputy fire marshal and town building inspector, and all were happy that no persons or hazardous substances were affected when the attached rear wing apparently caved in and detached from the main building under the increasing weight of snow that was falling heavily Tuesday.

Chief Ciaccia said that normally, many of the company’s vehicles are stored in the now decimated wing of the building, but luckily at the time of the collapse, it appeared only one truck cab was affected.

After the fire and building officials conferred, it was determined that employees should stay out from inside all buildings at the facility, which straddles the corner of Ethan Allen Road and South Main Street, except a single-story office wing near the company’s main entrance.

“As the rain starts falling, there’s going to be a lot of extra weight on those elevated roof surfaces in the storage and warehouse buildings,” Building Inspector John Poeltl told The Bee.

Within an hour of the first emergency response, officials had cordoned off the area and were not allowing anyone in or near the collapsed facility, or any of the other structures except the office wing. A electrician had been dispatched to the site to cut off power to the affected area, according to Chief Ciaccia.

Town land records indicate the structure involved was built in 1978. The area that collapsed measures approximately 13,067 square feet.