Roof avalanche buries teens playing outside, seriously injuring one, CO officials say
A roof avalanche buried two teens outside a Colorado home, leaving one seriously injured, officials say.
The pair was playing outside a Breckenridge home on March 18 when a mass of snow slid off the roof, and they were “partially buried in the debris,” the Colorado Avalanche Information Center said in a March 19 news release.
“This is a tragic accident,” Ethan Greene, the center’s director, said in the release. “Roof avalanches are a problem every year in mountain communities, but right now we have a lot of snow in unusual places.”
Greene said roof avalanches will continue to be a concern throughout the week.
Breckenridge is about a 60-mile drive southwest from Denver.
What to know about roof avalanches
Roof avalanches often occur “during a large snowstorm or when there is rapid warming following a big storm,” according to the center.
Colorado’s last fatal roof avalanche happened last March when a child died after being buried in snow with their father and sibling, the center said. Over the past 30 years, five people are known to have died in roof avalanches, according to the center.
If a “roof has a thick build-up of snow,” the center advises residents pay attention to the roofs and never to play with icicles.
The center also recommends limiting the time spent under “snow-loaded roofs” and keeping a shovel nearby in case of emergency.
If residents shovel their roofs, the center said they should do so early on to “reduce the snow load and potential consequences of larger roof avalanches.”
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