Fairgrounds roof collapses from heavy snow

The roof on the west annex of the Agriculture A Building at the Spokane County Interstate Fair and Ag Expo Center collapsed Friday, and wet snow has compromised the roof over the east annex. Facilities manager Craig Crocker said Monday the building, which a week ago housed The Spokesman-Review Christmas Bureau’s food and toy distribution operation, was unoccupied at the time the roof collapsed from the weight of the snow. There were no injuries. The building, which was formerly known as the Youth Building and houses such exhibits during the Interstate Fair as “Guess the Weight of the Giant Pumpkin”, doesn’t have another event booked into it for about a month, Crocker said. County officials are waiting for an inspection by a structural engineer to determine what parts of the building are salvageable, he said. In addition to that collapse, the county at 11:16 a.m. ordered employees to get out of the Information Systems Department building because of snow load and a risk of collapse, said Dorothy Gallarda, an administrative assistant at Spokane County. County officials will host a news conference at 2 p.m. to discuss the collapse and other safety concerns.