Chunks of ice fall through Chino home roof, possibly from airplane

Rob McMillan Image
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Ice possibly from a plane falls through roof of Chino home
Roof damage is common as we approach the winter months. But it's far less common when chunks of ice fall from a plane and through a roof.

CHINO, Calif. (KABC) -- Roof damage is common as we approach the winter months. But it's far less common when chunks of ice fall from a plane and through a roof.

That's exactly what residents in one Chino neighborhood said happened over the weekend.

"It was pretty crazy, never seen anything like it before," Chris Prater said.

He and some neighbors were hanging out in a garage at the end of the street on Harrington Court when it happened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

"Just heard a loud noise," said Prater, who lives next door to the damaged home. "It sounded like a car crash, I guess."

Brandon Blanchard is the owner of the damaged home. He said his wife came out of the house and said there had been "an explosion or something."

A brief search around the house turned up nothing. But in their upstairs bathroom was a hole in the ceiling and several large chunks of ice sitting in the bath tub.

"I'm wondering what's going on, I don't know what's happening," Blanchard said. "Once I settled down, and I saw the ice, I think it had to fall from the sky. What's in the sky? Airplanes!"

Fortunately, no one was in the room at the time. Blanchard said it's the bathroom typically used by his daughter.

Blanchard filed an incident report with the Chino Police Department. The FAA is investigating the incident. Now Blanchard said he's dealing with his insurance company.

"They laughed a little bit, but it wasn't uncommon I guess in the insurance industry. So they are now looking into it," Blanchard said.