Seven people in 45 seconds.
That’s how many people had just been under the canopy at the Shell gas station at 99 Bridgeport Ave. Saturday afternoon.
Video from a surveillance camera at the station show a flurry of activity at the busy gas station just before the structure crumbles from the weight of the snow brought on by a relentless winter.
There’s a U.S. postal service truck parked under the canopy. A second vehicle is on the far end of the station. At six seconds in, one man is under the canopy is joined by five other men leaving the convenience store. They’re all out of danger 17 seconds into the video.
Then, the Valley’s luckiest person pulls up in a SUV at 26 seconds in. The person gets out, walks from the vehicle and — as the door to the station is closing — the canopy begins to collapse at 42 seconds in. It comes smashing to the ground at 45 seconds in.
Bridgeport Avenue Shell station owner Bruce Butler said a neighbor three doors down heard the canopy hit the ground and thought a plane had fallen out of the sky.
“It’s amazing that no one was hurt,” Butler said.
The gas station has reopened and is now operating without the canopy.
Meanwhile, Butler is up to his ears with paperwork from his insurance company. He’s dealing with Shelton officials as well.
“Now we just have to wait for the insurance company,” he said.
