‘It was the biggest bang’: Mass. homeowners describe moment falling ice crashes through their roof

SHIRLEY, Mass. — Homeowners in the town of Shirley got the shock of their lives when their house was hit with falling ice sometime after 10 p.m. Sunday.

“It was the biggest bang I ever heard in my life, like a car crash,” homeowner Jeff Ilg said.

Running outside, Jeff and his wife, Amelia Rainville, found their backyard littered with ice.

“It was hard to wrap my head around it. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky,” said Jeff.

Jeff has spent the last eight years rebuilding his house, originally built in the 1700′s.

At first, in the darkness, he couldn’t see the damage. But when he checked out his roof his heart sank.

From the outside, the ice created a large gash in the roof.

From the inside, the damage to the attic is more extensive.

“It blew through the exterior sheeting, the underlayment which is an inch thick of old pine board. And thru six inches of close cell foam,” Jeff said.

Jeff still has some of the ten pounds of ice in his freezer.

So where did all this ice come from? Jeff says his house sits underneath a busy flight path to Logan, and according to the Flight Tracker app, he might be onto something.

“Sure enough there was a plane directly overhead right at impact,” said Jeff

Days later, Jeff still doesn’t know if the ice came from a plane, or something else. So far, he has talked to his insurance company to file a claim.

Soon, he will reach out to the airlines to see if a plane really the source of the falling ice.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2023 Cox Media Group