Roof Collapses at PetSmart in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY -- The roof of a local pet store collapsed early Thursday morning in Sioux City, Iowa, leaving most pets and all employees uninjured.

Local fire, police and emergency crews responded to PetSmart, located at 5001 Sergeant Rd., Suite 150, sometime between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Thursday, January 7, 2010, according to one of the store employees.

Sioux City Animal Control was at the pet retail store located in the Lakeport Commons Shopping Center to transport rescued pets to their facility. Petsmart employees and volunteers helped move the pets to secure areas.

Pets are also being held in heated rooms of the store that were not effected by the ceiling collapse and water damage from broken pipes.

As of 9 a.m., all pets excluding fish were in a warm environment. Rescue efforts in the aquatics department continues.

According to the National Weather Service, at 6 a.m. it was 5 degrees Fahrenheit in Sioux City, with winds out of the Northwest at 35 mph. Temperatures are expected to drop throughout the day.

Local emergency responders allowed people and pets to get warm in their mobile rescue units during the winter rescue operation.

Severe weather conditions are currently effecting Sioux City. Woodbury County is under a Wind Chill Warning until noon on Friday, and a Winter Storm Warning is in effect until noon today. Wind chills of 20 to 35 degrees below zero are expected today.

The cause of the roof collapse has not been officially determined, however weather conditions are suspected.

*News report is written from my first hand account of the scene while helping rescue fish from the aquatics department.