Georgetown school evacuated after roof collapse

GEORGETOWN, Mass. -- A partial roof collapse at the Perley Elementary School in Georgetown, Mass. sent students to the nearby high school on Thursday.

The collapse happened in the first grade part of the building, but the debris landed in the attic and did not go through to a classroom.

“I was in class and I heard a big noise in my classroom and so I had to leave the school right away,” said Chloe Ciano, a first grader.

They left so fast that kindergarten and first graders students didn’t even have time to collect their belongings.

Ciano and about 100 other classmates were quickly evacuated out of precaution. They were taken to the high school nearby, where they were picked up by relieved parents who also saw the gaping hole in the school.

“My heart sunk,” said Laurie Kenny, parent. “I just envisioned the roof on top of my little boy.”

“Wow, wow. That’s incredible,” said Edward Dullea, parent.

“Oh my gosh! There has been so much on the news about all the roof collapses so it’s kind of scary,” said Lori Ciano, a mother.

“It was put up in the late 60s. It was built over the flat roof portion of the building, so it’s a roof over a roof,” said Dep. Chief Rusty Ricker of the Georgetown Fire Dept.

Elsewhere, the Hingham Middle School was closed as crews removed heavy snow and ice from that building’s roof.

Schools in the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District were also closed after part of the Public Safety building buckled under the weight of the ice and snow, causing a district wide assessment of all their roofs.

“We don’t have enough people to remove that amount of snow, so we’re asking contractors if they’re interested to come and let’s see what we can do,” said Superintendent of Hamilton-Wenham Schools Dr. Raleigh Buchanan.

And at the multi-story Berkowitz building in Chelsea, kids on the top floor were moved to lower floors as a precaution.

“We do have some drifting on the roofs. The inspectional services thought it would be prudent to knock those drifts down,” said Gerry McCue, Chelsea Public Schools.

Back at the Perley School in Georgetown, parents were notified within 10 minutes of the collapse and every parent that 7NEWS spoke with had high praise for the administration.

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