Osoyoos roof collapse: WorkSafeBC says roofers did not check the roof could carry their material pallets

The building owner had hired a crew to replace the roof membrane, with the materials for the job going up onto the roof, WorkSafeBC occupational safety officer Carl Howells wrote, according to Castanet. Partway through the work, a section of the roof structure started to give way. The roofers got off the roof and told people in the building and the property next door to leave. The report warns the whole building may be compromised and that more of it could come down unless controls are put in place. It cites a contravention of the province's Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

Its tenants include Elvis Fine Jewellery, Shoe Biz, Art Therapy Corp and the Okanagan Art Gallery. Next door, Queen of the South Charcuterie had a full lunch room when roofers came in to say the wall seemed to be leaning toward it, owner Melissa Genberg told Castanet; the fire department cleared the restaurant. No one was hurt. Genberg said the restaurant could be shut for as long as six months and is worried about her 17 employees heading into the holiday catering season.

Barricades remain and the owner has hired overnight security. An engineering assessment of the building's stability has to come first, and a tenant said the crew will also test for asbestos. The Town of Osoyoos said its role is limited because the building is privately owned; it lent barricades to close the sidewalk. None of the businesses has a reopening date.