The awning fell at this Circle K gas station on Key West Drive in Arnold.

The awning fell at this Circle K gas station on Key West Drive in Arnold.

The Circle K gas station at 2046 Key West Drive in Arnold closed Wednesday, Aug. 31, after a large portion of the awning around the convenience store’s roof fell. No one was injured, according to the Rock Community Fire Protection District.

The business was still closed this afternoon, Sept. 1, because it won’t have an occupancy permit until repairs are completed, Rock Fire spokeswoman Stephanie Jackson said.

Jeff Schaub, a building inspector for the city of Arnold, said he was at the gas station when the awning collapsed.

“It was around 1:45 p.m. when it started to happen,” he said. “I pulled in to get gas. After I pulled up, there was a guy in the parking lot who said, ‘You might want to move your vehicle. It sounds like this thing is about to fall down.’ I pulled into a parking space, got out and you could hear it creaking. Then it slow-motioned came down.”

Schaub said there may have been two cars at the gas station’s pumps, and the manager’s car was parked on a side of the building where the awning fell onto the sidewalk. However, no vehicles were hit by the awning.

“The way it came down, it came straight down. It didn’t hit anything,” Schaub said. “It was very interesting, actually. I drive by the station almost on a daily basis going to inspections. I never noticed anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t like there was bad weather yesterday that could have caused it.”

Schaub said he would not speculate about what caused the awning to fall.

Jackson said Rock Fire got a call about the incident at approximately 2 p.m. and firefighters cordoned off the building and parking lot to the station.

Schaub said contractors arrived at the business the evening the awning fell to remove it.

The same gas station was damaged on Nov. 4, 2021, when a 71-year-old Arnold woman drove a 2003 Mazda Tribute through a wall of the business. The driver injured her knee and back, and she was transported to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County, Arnold Police reported.

She told officers her foot slipped off the brake and onto the gas pedal, causing the SUV to jump the curb and crash through a wall near where the store’s cash registers are located, according to the report.

Schaub said he couldn’t say if the accident contributed to the awning falling.

“I would hate to speculate on that,” he said. “It has been almost a year since that happened.”