An Idaho barn collapsed under heavy snow, narrowly missing workers

As winter weather pounded the Treasure Valley in recent days, it also came down hard in Horseshoe Bend, dropping over a foot of snow in the Boise County town and the ranch where LaDonna Vinson and her husband, Lane, rent a home. It also dropped about 18 inches of snow on top of a nearby barn, weighing the building down so much that it collapsed in an explosion of snowy powder LaDonna managed to capture on video.

On Sunday, Lane was in the snowy yard fixing a tire, LaDonna said, when he noticed a pole on the hay barn looked bent. He quickly went inside and told LaDonna they had to move the tractors that were under the structure.

“We knew it was coming down from all the cracking and popping it was making,” LaDonna said on Facebook. The couple called their friend who owns the two tractors, then Lane and a ranch hand ran to the barn to try to move the machines.

“They came out and the blue tractor’s battery was dead,” LaDonna said. “(They) had to jump-start the tractor ... and went back in for the second tractor, but the battery was dead on it as well.”

While inside the barn, the men heard the sounds of the structure weakening and decided to abandon the second piece of machinery.

“They decided the tractor was insured and they weren’t. Just as they got the truck out, the pole barn came down,” LaDonna said.

No one was injured in the collapse, and LaDonna said they’re waiting on an insurance assessment before beginning the task of cleaning up. She said she’s “glad everyone was okay, sad that it came down and (thinking) how hard the cleanup is going to be.”

One thing she’s grateful for, though?

“Just that our friends and neighbors are wonderful and that we help one another,” she said.

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 9:38 AM with the headline "An Idaho barn collapsed under heavy snow, narrowly missing workers."