Manufacturing Building Collapses Under Snow Load

Another building in Naugatuck collapsed under the weight of a heavy snow load on Sunday, making it the second borough building to collapse in three days and at least the fifth building in three weeks.

Naugatuck firefighters responded to a call at 4 p.m. for a collapsed manufacturing building at 51 Elm St., the location of Advantage Sheet Metal Manufacturing. The owners of the business discovered the collapse an hour before, manager John Hare said.

The middle part of the building caved in due to the snow load, said Fire Chief Kenneth Hanks. No one was injured.

Hanks said the building is known as Quonset hut.

Advantage Sheet Metal Manufacturing used the building as a processing center for cutting metal sheets, Hare said.

“We’ve been lucky we’ve had only one minor injury with all the collapses we’ve had this week,” Hanks said.

A woman sustained minor injuries to her leg after an under the weight of snow and ice. The same day, another home buckled under the weight of snow.

The collapsed also comes three days after a garage on Scott Street completely came down due to the snow load, which was also the same day Walmart and Naugatuck High School were both evacuated as precautions. Since then, building officials deemed both structures safe to reenter.

A former plumbing company on New Haven Road , leaving no injuries.