BAYONNE – A combination of heavy ice and snow saturated with rain, along with the weight of a large, roof-mounted heating unit and solar panels, is believed to have contributed to the roof collapse at 30 Pulaski St. in Bayonne, according to Fire Chief Gregory Rogers.
City firefighters were called to the site on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 10:12 a.m., Rogers said in a statement.
“Arriving units discovered a collapsed section of warehouse roofing, approximately 50 feet by 100 feet, at number 30 Pulaski Street, occupied by the Star Snacks Company,” Rogers said. “A total of 44 workers were evacuated from the entire warehouse complex, to protect from any possible subsequent failure of the roof.”
The 25 warehouse workers employed by Star Snacks were unharmed and apparently had fled the affected area when it was first noticed that a pipe at ceiling level had burst, and that signs of the sagging roof were evident. Nineteen additional workers, in a separate section of the warehouse occupied by the Win Luck Company, were also evacuated as a precaution.
Utilities to the warehouse had to be shutdown when it was discovered that water and gas lines were fractured and leaking in the “collapse zone,” Rogers said. The electrical power to the affected areas was also shut down.
The entire warehouse will remain closed pending the assessment of a structural engineer to be hired by the owner, according to Rogers.
United Water and PSE&G were at the scene to secure utilities. – Joseph Passantino