ALBANY — Albany firefighters evacuated Albany’s Home Depot store just after noon Sunday to allow a structural engineer to check out possible roof stress following days of snow and ice.
Battalion Chief Ryan Bond stressed the evacuation was done just as a safety precaution. No one was injured and no confirmation was available late Sunday that the roof actually had been compromised.
Firefighters came to the store at 3500 Spicer Drive S.E. for two reasons Sunday. The first was to check into reports that an exit had been closed off.
The shop had closed the lumber area exit and roped off the concrete pad with yellow caution tape because of breaks in the sprinkler system overhead.
Inside the buliding, Bond said, employees pointed out aluminum conduits holding wires that run from the ceiling to the floor. At least two of the conduits were bowing out 6 to 12 inches from the wall, and the bowing appeared to be getting worse.
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Bond said no one found any leaks in the building and the cause for the bowing wasn’t immediately evident.
“The safe thing to do was to evacuate the store until they get hold of a structural engineer,” he said.
Information was not available late Sunday on whether the store will open Monday.
Jennifer Moody is the education reporter for the Democrat-Herald. She can be reached at 541-812-6113 or jennifer.moody@lee.net.