Falling Ice Hits North Side Home

Chicago - A large ice chunk mysteriously tumbled from the sky over Chicago on Wednesday evening, damaging the roof of a North Side home.

Around 7:52 p.m., the ice chunk hit a home at 4242 N. Wolcott Ave., police said.

Homeowner Linda Dowd was watching "Freaky Friday" with her 11-year-old son, Sean, when they heard a loud boom.

“The whole house shook," she said. "I never heard such a thing.”

After the boom, Linda Dowd and her husband Paul Dowd ran outside to find large and small chunks of “possible ice” on the ground and found a hole in the roof. Paul Dowd called police and responding officers found material that looked like ice and made a report, police said.

No one was hurt and the material did not penetrate into the house, according to police.

Tony Molinaro, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said as of 8 a.m. the agency had not been notified of the incident by Chicago police.

“It would be like a little mystery we have to solve,” he said.

Molinaro said FAA investigators would track down planes flying over the home around 8 p.m. last night. The home, he said, was about 10 miles from an O’Hare runaway.

He said ice could possibly form from a water leak in a plane.
“Ice is possible but it’s an odd time of year for it,” he said.