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The New Canaan Gulf gas station was closed six of its eight pumps Wednesday after a heavy coating of snow and ice caused one end of the station's canopy to tip downward.
New Canaan Fire Marshal Fred Baker said town firefighters noticed Wednesday that one corner of the station's canopy was tipping "significantly." Baker said he spoke with town Building Official Brian Platz before ordering the station to close at about 1 p.m.
"One corner was about a foot from level," Baker said. Though he did not know whether there was an immediate danger of collapse, "there was significant deformation of the structure."
Station employees shoveled snow from atop the canopy Wednesday afternoon. The two pumps closest to South Avenue, which are not under the canopy, are open for use, station manager Ali Khalil said Wednesday evening. The station's store and the auto repair shop will also remain open, he said. A structural engineer will visit the station Thursday to check the canopy. "We had a lot of snow," Khalil said. "Other than that, everything is all right."
The closure comes after several gas stations in the state collapsed after repeated winter storms.
Baker said only one weather-related roof collapse has been reported so far this year: An addition at a home on Ponus Ridge Road fell in.
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