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WEST JORDAN -- A portion of the roof of a West Jordan home collapsed on a nursery where a baby was sleeping Saturday. Miraculously, the little girl wasn't hurt.
Brandine Floyd had just put baby Sophie down for a nap just after 10 a.m. at their home near 2300 West and 7500 South when she heard a loud crash come from the child's bedroom.
Thinking a bookcase had somehow fallen over, Floyd ran inside the room to find a hole in the ceiling with a view straight up into the insulation and the attic.
Sophie was crying inside the crib. Also in the crib: several chunks of the ceiling.
"She was in the corner and was covered with a blanket, so most of it went on the blanket," said Floyd. "I'm still shaky, but everything is OK."
She was in the corner and was covered with a blanket, so most of it went on the blanket. I'm still shaky, but everything is OK.
–Brandine Floyd
It appears there was a problem with the family's swamp cooler and water had been leaking into the ceiling, creating a soft spot. Swamp cooler experts say they see that problem a couple of times every year -- possibly even more so now with the poor economy.
"In the winter time if they're not shut down properly, they freeze and break," said Lyle Campbell, owner of CCS Swamp Cooler Service. "That's when you see these roofs caving in."
Campbell did not do any work on the Floyd's home, but says he sees several ceiling collapses each season. He says he's seeing more problems this year because some homeowners try to do the work themselves to save money.
"We're seeing water lines breaking in the ceiling. We're seeing not near as cool swamp coolers and people calling to ask questions instead of having you do the service work," he said.
Campbell recommends you have your swamp cooler serviced twice a year -- in the spring and before the winter. He says to look for paint bubbles or water stains near vents. Often they are signs you have a leak that can cause problems.
As for little Sophie, paramedics checked her out. Luckily, she suffered no injuries.
E-mail: sdallof@ksl.com
