UPDATE: 'Catastrophic' roof collapse at Iron River's Habitat for Humanity ReStore

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Iron River is closed indefinitely after its roof collapsed Monday night.

“I received a call a little after 6 p.m. that the roof on the Iron River ReStore had collapsed,” said Nancy Pellegrini, the executive director of the Habitat for Humanity Menominee River affiliate.

The roof of the ReStore at 211 W. Maple St. suffered a catastrophic failure and collapsed, likely due to heavy snow loads.

"I did not expect that phone call, for sure, and on a day that we were closed. So I really was a bit shocked,” said Pellegrini.

No injuries were reported. River North Pub & Grill closed for two hours, and the City View Apartments were temporarily evacuated because of the risk of natural gas leaks and fire potential.

Police say apartment residents were loaded onto buses to be taken to the high school gym, but the fire department determined the apartments were safe and residents were allowed to return home.

You can prevent something like this from happening to your house or business, by cleaning off the roof.

"Light fluffy snow can weight anywhere from 3 pounds and the same snow being wet and heavy can be up to 20 pounds of snow, so it's nothing to have 20 tons of snow on an average roof system,” said Ryan Okler, the owner of Okler Roofing.

Letting snow pile up on the roof can lead to a number of issues.

"Well you have catastrophic failure, trust damage, rafter damage, can be a total roof collapse, significant ice dams, water infiltration, and some pretty serious problems that can arise from not keeping up to the snow weight load,” said Okler.

For the Habitat for Humanity ReStore workers Tuesday morning was been busy.

"Our next step we are waiting for the insurance adjustor to review the damage and we will find out then if we are rebuilding, if we have to knock the entire building down. I believe that is what we will have to do and then it's making a decision of where we want to go in Iron County and how we want to continue our presence there,” said Pellegrini.

Pellegrini says the ReStore will remain closed indefinitely until the full extent of damages can be assessed, however donations and items available for purchase supporting the ReStore can continue to be made at the Kingsford ReStore at 113 S Milwaukee Ave, Kingsford, MI 49802.

For more information contact, the HFHMR office at 906-779-5377 or email hfh@habitatmr.com