6-Storey Parking Garage Collapses in Downtown Ottawa, 50 Vehicles Trapped: Fire Service

Ottawa Fire Services said about 50 vehicles were trapped after a parking lot garage collapsed under heavy snow buildup on Feb. 25. Courtesy of OFS Photographer Jean Lalonde

A six-storey parking garage collapsed under the weight of piled-up snow, according to Ottawa Fire Services (OFS).

OFS said the incident happened around 4:55 p.m. on Feb. 25 at a parking garage at 265 Laurier Avenue West.

It said that it received a 911 call from a resident reporting damage on a column on one of the pillars in the parking garage.

The caller said that someone needed to investigate the issue.

OFS said it sent technical rescue teams, which included a structural collapse team, to the area.

When crews arrived, they noticed that five to six girders, which are the main horizontal support of a structure, were bowing. OFS said the structural integrity of the parking garage was “compromised.”

“The top floor of the 6 storey parking garage, which is not covered, was confirmed to have a heavy snow load on it,” OFS said in a Feb. 26 social media post.

OFS said that Ottawa police were called to the scene so the roads could be closed for safety. They also said police were required to keep the scene secure.

A City of Ottawa engineer and the property managers were also called to the scene, OFS wrote in the post.

Firefighters began searching the structure to locate any residents and to remove them from the area. They helped residents evacuate quickly. Exclusion zone tape was wrapped around the perimeter, OFS said.

About 50 vehicles were inside the parking garage at the time. OFS said that no owners were allowed inside to get their vehicles out.

As crews were searching the structure for civilians, they were able to confirm the cement columns that reinforced the upper roof were cracked and broken, the social media post said.

Crews confirmed there were no residents left in the structure around 5:47 p.m., OFS said.

Building engineers on the scene confirmed a potential collapse was imminent, according to OFS.

At 4:47 a.m., the top level of the Northwest corner of the building collapsed, the social media post said.

No injuries were reported.

OFS also posted a 10-second video of the collapse from the ground on the X platform.

In the video, it shows the snow dropping from one level to another. As it falls, elements of the structure break, with large pieces falling to the ground.

The collapse came about a week after the city saw a couple of snowstorms that it is still cleaning up from.

The city said on Feb. 25 that crews had cleared about 516,000 cubic metres of snow from roads so far. It was enough to fill the Canadian Tire Centre, the city said in a social media post.

“Following two back-to-back major winter storms, the Ottawa airport has reported 92 centimetres on the ground,” the city said on its website. It said it Ottawa has not had that much snow on the ground since 2001.