Prineville plant, Tumalo arena collapse under heavy snow

With a thunderous boom one neighbor likened to an earthquake, a large portion of the shut Woodgrain Millwork plant in Prineville collapsed Sunday morning, four days after another part of the roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow. And a Tumalo youth ranch’s arena also collapsed from wet, heavy snow — but fortunately, no injuries occurred in either case.

“My husband and I were just outside playing in the snow with our kids and heard what sounded like an earthquake,” Jennie Quinn of Prineville told NewsChannel 21. “The rest of the Woodgrain Mill collapsed!”

This time, photos showed the walls also had fallen, not just the roof, leaving large holes exposed to the elemets.

Another area resident said Sunday’s collapse on the northeast corner of the complex of connected buildings blew sawdust and small debris across Peters Road, prompting a closure in case more of the structure fell at the 83-acre site, which the Idaho firm has up for sale.

The heavy snow also caused a collapse of the indoor arena at Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch on Innes Market Road in Tumalo.

“It’s a total loss,” CEO/Founder Troy Meeder said of the 9:30 a.m. collapse. “We have close to $500,000 of equipment now buried under snow, wood and twisted metal.”

But it could have been worse: Just “a few minutes before,” Meeder said, as one of her team was parking a tractor inside after use. Another team member and his 2-year-old son “were just gearing up to get out one of the tractors to move snow.”

“The building collapsed while neither was inside — thank you, Jesus!” she wrote.

Early last Wednesday, another portion of the Woodgrain Millwork roof collapsed under the weight of heavy snow, causing no injuries but triggering a natural gas leak, officials said.

A passer-by called dispatchers around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday to report a smell of natural gas on Peters Road, said Crook County Fire and Rescue Chief Matt Smith.

Responding fire crews found a portion of the roof had collapsed at the facility, where another section of roof collapsed in November 2014. That collapse was a major factor in the Idaho company’s decision to lay off remaining workers and close the facility about a year ago. The property is now up for sale.

Wednesday’s roof collapse was found to have broken a natural gas line, so fire officials contacted Cascade Natural Gas, which sent a repair crew to turn it off, Smith said.

The threat of collapsing roofs has risen across the High Desert in the wake of this week’s heavy snowfall. Garden greenhouses and a storage structure collapsed in the La Pine area.