No children inside when portion of roof collapses at Conover daycare

CONOVER, N.C. — Emergency crews were on the scene early Thursday morning at a Catawba County daycare after part of the roof collapsed.

Police and firefighters were called around 7 a.m. to the Rainbow Child Care Center off Fairgrove Church Road SE in Conover.

Channel 9 reporter Dave Faherty was the first on the scene and reported that a handful of rooms were damaged but that no children were inside when the collapse happened.

Faherty watched all morning as employees moved items out of the building, which was built in 1986.

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The county building inspector told Faherty the collapse was most likely weather-related and that the building is uninhabitable. A lounge was heavily damaged along with one of the classrooms.

The county said the building was initially inspected in 1989 when it was built, but because there have not been any structural changes since then, they have not had to reinspect it.

In March 2018, fire inspectors said they did inspect the daycare, but did not find any obvious structural issues. They added they do not do a detailed inspection of the soundness of roofs during their inspections.

Firefighters said employees at the Rainbow Child Care Center knew something was wrong when they arrived and found several rooms flooded, but it was not from a broken pipe.

Firefighters said more than six of the trusses gave way during Wednesday night’s storm. When the roof collapsed, a water line in the ceiling was busted, according to officials.

Channel 9 spoke with several parents, who said they weren't sure where to take their children, but were grateful none of their children were inside when the roof collapsed.

"I'm just glad nobody was hurt. That's what scared me when I came in and saw the fire trucks," mother Keshira Hollar said.

"That it was at a time when multiple kids, babies, teachers that could have gotten hurt in there," mother Sierra Martinez said.

About 100 children attend the daycare and were being directed to another Rainbow center in the area.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.

Cox Media Group