Deer Park, NY, February 16, 2007-- A roof collapse at Salesmaster Associates Inc.'s Guilderland distribution center has the Long Island wholesale flooring distributor scrambling to relocate people and stay operating.
Company vice president Tony Giannattasio, who is based in the firm's Deer Park headquarters, said he was trying to sort out the extent of the damage. Nobody was hurt in the collapse, Giannattasio said.
The roof collapsed shortly before midnight on Valentines Day, according to Fuller Road Fire Department Chief Kevin Terry.
The department responded to a water flow alarm and found what appeared to be a frozen sprinkler pipe leaking water. As crews worked to fix the leak they noticed a broken wooden truss in the roof assembly. The building was evacuated and the eastern half of the building's roof collapsed about five minutes later, Terry said.
There's been no determination yet on whether or not snow on the roof caused the collapse, Terry said. Since nobody was injured the fire and police departments will not conduct an investigation and the building has been turned over to the owners, he said.
Salesmaster sells residential and commercial flooring systems and installation supplies throughout the Northeast. The company has distributions centers in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts as well as in Albany, N.Y., and Deer Park, N.Y.
