Fred Meyer evacuated due to concerns about roof safety, gas station canopy partially collapsed after record snowfall
- Jasz Garrett
- 16 hours ago
- 2 min read
Store and gas station closed until further notice while snow removal takes place
By Rashah McChesney, Chilkat Valley News, and Jasz Garrett, Juneau Independent
After a record snowstorm in Juneau, the fuel canopy of Fred Meyer's gas station partially collapsed early Thursday morning, according to employees. Then holiday shoppers were evacuated from the store by 4 p.m. Thursday due to concerns about the heavy snow on the roof.
Dozens of people streamed out of the doors as a steady parade of cars came by, all being told the store had been closed.
Rebecca Hylton and her teenage son of Haines came in at 3 p.m. She said as they started shopping, she could tell something was wrong from the way the employees were acting. After about 20 minutes, employees announced that the store would close at 4 p.m. Then the language shifted and they used the word "evacuation" three times over the loudspeaker.
"We definitely would have done more shopping, but we hurried and got the basics," Hylton said.
Cliff Nelson, who titled himself a "parcel," moved carts from the parking lot to the store. He said the roof was not leaking, but management had said there was a problem and everyone had to leave. Another employee said the closure was out of an "abundance of caution" and the store was waiting on a structural engineer. He said he remembered this same situation in the past.
The gas station has been taped off and is temporarily closed, like the store, until further notice.
"Our Juneau Fred Meyer is temporarily closed to allow for snow removal and will reopen following completion. Thank you for your patience and understanding," said Tiffany Sanders, corporate affairs manager for Fred Meyer and QFC Divisions of Kroger. "Our Fred Meyer fuel station in Juneau is temporarily closed. Our team is focused on getting the station back open as soon as possible. We appreciate the understanding."
Sanders did not respond to further questions by the Independent about how long the snow removal was expected to take or if a structural engineer was needed.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356. Rashah McChesney, editor of the Chilkat Valley News, contributed to this story.
