BURST PIPE CAUSES
$10,000 IN DAMAGE TO HALIFAX REGIONAL HOSPITAL CAFETERIA IN VIRGINIA
A burst sprinkler system pipe in the ceiling flooded the
Halifax Regional Hospital cafeteria with thousands of gallons of water early
Friday morning resulting in more than $10,000 damage.
According to South Boston Fire Chief Steve Phillips, it
is unclear whether the ceiling pipe froze and burst or if the elbow of the pipe
just separated from the rest of the pipe causing the water to gush into the
cafeteria and onto carpeted areas surrounding the dining area.
“When the pipe burst close to the outside wall early
Friday morning, it set the fire alarm off in the cafeteria,” Phillips said.
No one was inside the cafeteria at the time of the
alarm, but hospital personnel soon arrived to investigate and discovered it was
a burst pipe that had set off the alarm.
South Boston Fire Department received the call at 2:17
a.m., Phillips said, and responded with four trucks.
Halifax Volunteer Fire Department responded as well;
however, once firefighters surmised there was no fire and only a burst pipe,
Halifax volunteer firefighters were disregarded.
“Water was everywhere. It put a lot of water down, and
we were just trying to keep the water out of other areas,” Phillips explained.
Hospital maintenance and custodial staff were called
into the hospital for cleanup along with personnel from the sprinkler system
company to get the system “back up and running,” according to the fire chief.
Once hospital personnel arrived, staff used shop vacs to
get the water out of the floor and carpet in an effort to ascertain the extent
of the damage.
The stagnant water that had been sitting in the
sprinkler system pipes had “quite an odor,” according to the fire chief.
“It was quite a bit of damage,” Phillips said estimating
the amount at $10,000 or more.