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The general manager of a Red Deer, Alta. hotel is grateful no one was in a ballroom Saturday night when part of the roof collapsed.
John Mytz said his duty manager called him at about 10 p.m. to say there was a noise coming from the roof of the Red Deer Lodge.
"It was more of just a creaking sound. [Staff] spend time setting up that room continuously, so they know when something's different," said Mytz. "You kind of heard and you went well, that's not normal.
"Immediately told them to lock the area off, just kind of get the associates out of the area. There was no function happening at the time."
The roof caved in right after the area was closed off.
Mytz still isn't sure what caused the collapse.
"We're taking every precaution necessary and have contacted a structural engineer that's come down with our insurance company to investigate the situation, and we hope to have information later this week," Mytz said.
"[The collapse affected] maybe about a third of the space, so about 3,000 square feet. Our ballroom is large. It's about 10,000 square feet, so relatively, it's a small area."
It was a small area, but a big concern to emergency responders, who were worried about possible gas leaks.
"They soon found out that there were no gas leaks," said Chuck Ruether, spokesman for Red Deer Emergency Services. "There was a lot of electricity, electrical wires hanging, and crews had reported there was arcing there, as well."
The hotel has been shut down until further notice.
There were about 70 guests staying in the hotel at the time, and those who needed it were provided alternative accommodation.
Chuck Zylla was put up at the Capri Hotel down the street. He said the roof collapse was unusual, but not totally unexpected.
"Given the fact that we've kind of exceeded record snowfalls over the last while, it's not surprising that this has happened," said Zylla. "And you look around you as you travel through Alberta and you notice that the snow has affected a lot of different buildings."
The Red Deer Lodge was built in 1970s, and Mytz said the ballroom roof had been redone as recently as six to 10 years ago.