MENDOTA – Weeks of heavy snow accumulating on a gas station canopy led to its collapse Monday in Mendota. The Mendota Fire Department was called around 2:30 PM to the station near I-39 and US Route 34 after a portion of the structure had fallen onto a truck parked at a gas pump. The driver of the truck, Michelle Blocher of Warsaw, Indiana, was inside the station when she heard what she thought was a crash outside. Mendota Fire Chief Dennis Rutishauser said their department used the tower truck to inspect the rest of the canopy over the gas pump and the nearby diesel pumps. No injuries were reported.
“I would advise all stations to check their overhangs and canopies, due to the weight of the snow and the melt, it could cause damage” Rutishauser said.
