Roof Collapses at Bel Air Safeway

BEL AIR, MD – The roof at a Bel Air grocery store collapsed Saturday afternoon.

The roof gave in at the Bel Air Safeway just before 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23.

Firefighters and the county’s technical rescue team responded to the grocery store and by 3:45 p.m., first responders had accounted for all employees, according to Rich Gardiner, spokesman for the Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS Association.

Nobody was injured, and no other stores were impacted, Gardiner said.

Safeway is located in the Greenbrier Shopping Center in the 200 block of Brierhill Drive.

According to Gardiner, the roof did not completely break.

“The roof has buckled down from the front to the rear but has not opened,” Gardiner said.

Crews had a hard time getting to the scene due to road conditions, according to Gardiner. The Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company, Abingdon Fire Company and Aberdeen Fire Department responded to the call.

Approximately 30 inches of snow had fallen in Bel Air by 4 p.m. on Saturday, according to unofficial snow data reported to the National Weather Service.

In addition to a blizzard warning, Harford County was under a high wind warning until 7 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 23, with the potential for gusts up to 55 mph, downed trees and power lines and structural damage.

Photo Credit: Mike Variano via Harford County Volunteer Fire and EMS and the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Company.