Ice chunk as big as a human rips through roof; where did it come from?

A mystery unfolded in a Florida neighborhood on Monday when a huge chunk of ice fell from the sky and struck a home, along with part of the roadway.

The incident occurred on a clear, sunny day around 3:35 p.m. in Seminole Woods in Flagler County, just north of Daytona Beach.

The Palm Coast Fire Department responded to the call about a report of the falling ice.

“It’s a new one for us,” Palm Coast Fire Chief Kyle Berryhill told WFTV. He revealed the size of the ice chunk to be 6-feet long, and 3-feet wide in places.

“Upon arrival, crews discovered a hole in the metal roof and remnants of ice that had penetrated into the living quarters,” the Palm Coast Fire Department reported on Facebook. “Firefighters notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the Palm Coast Building Department.”

Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the house remained habitable. The fire department was able to get most of the ice out of the hole before it melted, and placed a tarp over the hole, according to FlaglerLive.

Berryhill wouldn’t speculate about where the ice chunk came from, telling FlaglerLive, “That’s not really our role in the fire department, figuring out why.”

But others shared their thoughts as to where it might have come from, including Flagler County Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord.

Lord told FlaglerLive something similar occurred more than 20 years ago in South Florida, and it was determined to be “blue ice,” or the treated effluent from commercial planes.

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“Lord echoed the assessment of federal officials, saying water that sometimes leaks out of a commercial plane forms ice on its fuselage,” FlaglerLive wrote. “As the plane descends into warmer air, the ice can melt and fall off. When the FAA gets such reports, as it does from time to time–there was a nearly identical incident in Patterson, N.J., seven months ago, when the homeowners were on their porch–the agency tries to determine whether the ice could have come from an aircraft and then identify aircraft potentially involved.”

The FAA is investigating this incident, a spokesperson from the agency’s Atlanta office told FlaglerLive on Tuesday.

“It’s not common in any way shape or form, but it’s also not unheard of,” Lord told FlaglerLive. “It’s definitely horrible for the family who own that home. They have a repair to do now, and I’m sure they’ll have to chat with their insurance company.”