Members of the Sykesville/Freedom District Volunteer Fire Department hope to rebuild their social hall after it suffered a partial collapse and caught fire this morning.

“Right now we’re going to recuperate,” said David Kreimer, vice-president of the fire department in an interview with The Eagle. “We’re going to rebuild eventually and take one day at a time.”

The weight of the snow collapsed the roof at about 7:57 a.m., onto a gas line, and the line ignited, he said.

“Everything has been totally destroyed,” he said.

No one was injured in the fire, he said, and the fire is under control. Baltimore Gas and Electric was able to shut off the gas at noon, according to a release issued by the Fire Department.

About 200 firefighters and about 25 units from Baltimore, Carroll, Frederick and Howard counties responded to the fire, he said.

The social hall building, which is connected to the fire house, also contained a classroom and six administrative offices, he said.

“There’s only smoke damage done to our engine bay,” Kreimer said.

The social hall had a flat-roof construction, Kreimar said, and the weight of nearly 50 inches of snow caused the collapse.

The Carroll County Bureau of Permits and Inspections had issued a warning Wednesday  during the blizzard to flat-roof building owners to beware of the weight of the snow.

The Sykesville fire station, at Route 32 and Freedom Avenue, was built in 1985 for $700,000 and was expanded and renovated in 1999.

The cost to rebuild is unknown, but donations of cash and check to help the rebuild are being accepted at Sykesville Freedom District Fire Department Inc., P.O. Box 275, Sykesville, MD 21784. The department requests for supplies not to be donated due to lack of space.

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