No Injuries in Collapse of Store Roof
Part of the roof collapsed Wednesday at a supermarket in La Palma, causing about $250,000 in damage, authorities said. No one was injured.
About a fourth of the roof fell in on the 25,000-square-foot Hannam Super on La Palma Avenue, said Capt. Stephen Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. The collapse, which occurred about 8:30 a.m., triggered a sprinkler system that automatically alerted fire departments, he said.
“It collapsed just as the first employees were arriving,” Miller said. “If it had happened a little later, there could have been a lot of injuries.”
Miller said it is common for market roofs to bear thousands of pounds of weight from air-conditioning systems and compressors for refrigeration units inside the stores. Investigators said that weight may have caused the collapse.
Investigators said the damage estimate could rise as the debris is cleared and the store’s owners determine how much merchandise was destroyed.
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