Mutual aid for the East Montgomery County Fire Church fire. Roof collapse with a crew on the roof & a crew interior under the collapse. I was working as a Battalion Chief, assisting with operations on the Charlie division of the fire. The fire had been knocked down & due to a portion of the roof sagging, the building was ordered to be evacuated. Since the building had not been properly searched & after several of the on-scene chiefs, including myself, had conferred face to face, a decision was made to remain defensive on the portion of the building that had the roof instability, but re-initiate offensive operations at the other end of the building in order to facilitate a proper search & verify no further extension. Shortly after offensive operations resumed, the roof over the sanctuary failed near the burned end, pulling it down in a cascading fashion all the way to where crews were operating in & on the structure at the opposite end. The officer on the roof crew suffered only a rolled ankle as a result & all interior members exited without injury.
LESSONS LEARNED:
Verify assumed load supports in roofs. Better understanding of the potential for collapse even after fire extinguishment.
VIDEOS:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16WXkku6cpQWqwotcxNV4RcJUr-T2iHAY?usp=sharing
