Part of the Sylvan Lake Arena came crashing down early Monday morning, while an employee was still working inside.

The partial collapse happened around 1 a.m.

Pat Sawyer says he was flooding the rink when he heard several loud bangs.

"At first, two really loud bangs ... and I just kept flooding. And then two more really loud bangs, not aware it was structure giving."

Sawyer says he didn't even have time to jump off the ice resurfacer he was working on; he credits it for saving his life.

“The whole ceiling came down on top of me,” Sawyer said. “And if [I hadn’t] ducked behind the steering wheel, I would've never lived.”

On Monday morning the arena, as well as the neighbouring Multiplex building, was cordoned off due to stability concerns.

Town officials say an investigation will be conducted to look at a number of possible causes for the collapse, including snow buildup on the roof.

There have been a number of concerns this winter regarding snow on roofs in Sylvan Lake; the curling rink has already been closed twice to remove potentially hazardous snow buildup.

“This winter we’ve had a lot of concerns about the snow buildup, and I’ve mentioned there could be a lot of snow on that roof. As you can see, there’s quite a bit,” said nearby resident Gerald Stuart.

The mayor of Sylvan Lake calls the collapse unfortunate. He says the town had just cleared snow off the roof of the curling rink, and the roof of the Multiplex was next.  

“There are a lot of heartbroken people in Sylvan Lake today,” said Mayor Sean McIntyre. “We’ve had an icon in our community collapse and right now we’re in the process of assessing the damage and making a plan going forward.”

The Town of Sylvan Lake confirmed Monday morning that the 40-year-old arena building will be demolished.

On its website, the local Minor Hockey Association stated it will be meeting with team managers to figure out plans for the rest of the season; the attached Multiplex also has an ice surface.

With files from Laura Tupper and David Ewasuk