Menu
Buildings, trees come down in Sunday winds
CLOVERDALE — A popular local eatery was the most notable casualty of high winds in the area on Sunday, but damage was seen throughout the county.
Hatchet House Barbecue is now closed for the indefinite future following a partial building collapse in downtown Cloverdale.
High winds also claimed a building in the far northwestern corner of the county, as well as countless limbs and trees across Putnam County.
At 12:55 p.m. Sunday, the Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to Hatchet House at 5 N. Main St. (U.S. 231) to find that part of the facade had fallen onto the street and sidewalk in front of the restaurant.
The Cloverdale Police Department, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Department, and the Putnam County Emergency Management Agency were also soon on the scene as first responders got a handle on the situation.
CTVFD Lt. Brad Roberson told the Banner Graphic that nobody was believed to have been hurt, although he related that people were inside the restaurant at the time of the collapse. He was unaware of any damages to vehicles which might have passed by the buildings.
Roberson added that Cloverdale Building Inspector Wayne Galloway had been at the site to survey the damage. Galloway confirmed to the Banner Graphic Monday afternoon that there were no injuries or automobile damages, but that there were around a dozen patrons inside Hatchet House Barbecue when the brick fell.
Debris also fell through the front of a vacant property owned by Pattie Martin immediately south of Hatchet House.
The adjacent Pizza Niche restaurant had a front window broken by falling debris, as well as some damage to the stone front. The former Hoosier Topics building, owned by John and Brenda Wood, was believed by Galloway to have sustained no damage.
The Greencastle Fire Department was called to bring its ladder truck to assist with the ongoing investigation, and firefighters proceeded to tear down any remaining loose brick on the facade that was unstable.
Traffic was redirected on U.S. 231 around the site as CPD and CTVFD blocked off the roadway following the incident. Galloway estimated that U.S. 231 was closed for approximately five hours until about 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Hatchet House Barbecue is owned by Allen and Jennifer Trumbo, who in turn lease the building from Terry White. The local spot opened last July and had become a staple in downtown Cloverdale.
The Trumbos told WTHR after the collapse that they and their patrons evacuated the building through the back of the restaurant when the brick fell to the ground.
Galloway said that all the buildings’ owners have insurance; therefore, no conclusion on the incident’s cause can be determined until they have conducted their own independent investigations. As such, he could not provide a monetary estimate on the damages from the collapse.
Though the collapse is still under investigation, wind that reached estimated speeds of 55 mph Sunday were likely the predominant factor.
Galloway believed that the strong gusts had been pushing on the outside awnings above the properties, until the top brick was weakened enough to fall.
An even worse fate befell a vacant building in Russellville, with the facade still standing but the roof collapsing at 213 S. Harrison St.
The structure in question is on the east side of Harrison Street, immediately south of Russellville Town Hall.
During its most recent meeting a week ago, the Russellville Town Council discussed purchasing the neglected building.
The Putnam County Commissioners are already in the process of purchasing damaged structures at 215 and 219 S. Harrison St. in hopes of razing them, selling the property and getting them back on the tax rolls.
Local emergency responders had a busy day responding to wind-related and other calls.
Putnam County 911 Dispatch showed records of 10 calls of trees down in roadways, including a pair of early-morning reports of cars crashing into the downed trees.
Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Soilleux investigated both of these crashes, one on U.S. 40 and another on State Road 243.
In the 243 incident, a pickup truck crashed not only into a tree, but downed power lines.
No one was injured in either incident. Read more in Putnam Scanner on page 3A.
In addition to the two building collapse calls and the trees in roadways, several minor calls required notification of the Putnam County Highway Department.
911 Director Dave Costin estimated a total of 30 calls related to the weather on Sunday.
All of this came in addition to a box alarm in Roachdale for a soybean fire at Gavilon Grain.
“They had a weird day, between building collapses and the grain fire in Roachdale,” Costin said. “It was a day for unusual calls for us. Those types of calls aren’t the kind of thing you get every day.”
The irregularity of the day can be illustrated in the use of the Greencastle Fire Department aerial truck.
While the truck is used only when needed, on Sunday it was called to the Roachdale fire in case it spread to the larger structure, which it fortunately did not.
From there, the truck went straight to Cloverdale to assist with the facade collapse call.
In all, that’s a more than 60-mile trip for a truck that doesn’t often leave the city.