South Lincoln County weather creates hazards
After learning that the courthouse roof was holding full capacity and more snow was to come, Lincoln County Sheriff Roby Bowe, Undersheriff Brandon Huff and Detective Brad Dodson rallied on Wednesday morning to shovel off the excess snow. (Bethany Rolfson/TWN)
(Bethany Rolfson/TWN)
County Commissioners Mark Peck, Jerry Bennett and Mike Cole atop the Lincoln County Library shoveling snow on Wednesday, bracing for the upcoming weather system. (Bethany Rolfson/TWN)
A portion of Troy’s Bull Lake Fire District station’s roof collapsed on Wednesday, according to Gerald Wallace, treasurer of the Bull Lake Fire District.
The entire 1997 addition to the west side of the building collapsed due to heavy snow.
While they were able to retrieve two of the three apparatuses, one is still inside the rubble, as well as a type-six brush engine.
The collapse also created structural damage to a major load bearing wall, Wallace said, and also pushed out the front and side wall.
While Libby had a few, short power outages, the residents of Troy were without power for up to 48 hours, with the average people in and around Troy going without power for 12-24 hours according to Northern Lights Inc. and City of Troy officials.
Around 2,000 Northern Lights Inc. and Troy Power and Light customers went without power in the Troy area. According to Troy Deputy Clerk Sandi Sullivan, about two-thirds of Troy was without power.
As of Wednesday, everyone in Troy had their power restored.
The Libby Volunteer Firefighters’ fire hall is, so far, holding up, according to Steve Lauer.
On Wednesday morning, a crew went on top of the building to shovel off the snow, but didn’t go anywhere near the part that’s collapsing.
“We’re hoping for the best,” Lauer said.
For the past few years, there’s been significant concern that the roof would collapse.
In Sept. 2016, Chief Tom Wood told The Western News that the LVFD has been notifying the Libby City Council of the rotting fire hall roof for the last seven years. Now that the roof is beyond repair, there is a plan set in place to replace the roof. However, that project won’t commence until at least the snow has melted.
Lincoln County officials took to the roofs on Wednesday, bracing for the rain that hit on Thursday.
Sheriff Roby Bowe, Undersheriff Brandon Huff and Detective Brad Dodson all took to the courthouse roof on Wednesday morning.
Huff said that if they hadn’t shoveled the roof, which was holding its full weight capacity, they would have had to evacuate the jail.
At the same time the Sheriff Department personnel were shoveling the courthouse, other county officials, including the county commissioners, were shoveling the Lincoln County Library roof.