Snow causes roof collapse at Olympia high school

OLYMPIA — A large portion of the roof of an Olympia high school collapsed Christmas morning under the weight of snow, ice and water from recent storms.

The Olympia Fire Department responded just before 5 a.m. Thursday when alarms went off at Capital High School, said Assistant Fire Chief Greg Wright.

About 2,500-square-feet of roof collapsed and the building suffered water damage throughout its structure, fire officials said. No one was in the building at the time of the collapse and there were no injuries, said Lt. Ralph Dunbar of the fire department.

Olympia School District officials are working with the city and structural engineers to estimate the extent of the damage, the feasibility of stabilizing the collapse and what will be required to reopen the building, fire officials said.

Olympia building official Tom Hill said his initial inspection Thursday showed that a roof truss had broken. He said an engineer would need to take a closer look at the rest of the school's roof to make sure none of the other trusses have been damaged.

"Until they actually get in and begin some of the clean-up efforts ... we won't be able to see if additional areas have been compromised or broken," Hill said.

The school's 1,450 students were scheduled to return from winter break on Jan. 5.

Lt. Ralph Dunbar of the Olympia Fire Department says the school has a flat roof. He advises homeowners and others with flat roofs to make sure storm water is able to drain and clear snow if it is safe to do so.