Over winter break, two pipes burst within several hours of each other, spewing hot water from the ceiling of The Outlook office and causing approximately $20,000 in repairs, according to Patricia Swannack, Vice President for Administrative Services. Cold temperatures within the building caused the incident on the morning of Monday, Jan. 12 in the Jules L. Plangere Center for Communication.
Facilities Management checked the building’s heating issues on several occasions prior to the pipes bursting. Sandy Brown, Office Coordinator for The Outlook, was on the phone with Facilities Management reporting cold temperatures in the office yet again when the first pipe ruptured.
Lorna Schmidt, Director of Advising for the Communication Department and a communication professor, said, “The Outlook office was like 53 degrees and even colder in the conference room with the windows. The Mac computer lab was 37 degrees.”
According to Swannack, a control valve failed and the dampers, which regulate air flow, were prevented from fully closing. This allowed cold air to the access the building; however, “The situation was not caused by anyone’s failure,” said Swannack.
Brown said, “I was on the phone with Facilities Management when I heard a crack sound, then hot water started pouring out from the large unit in The Outlook ceiling. I told Facilities Management ‘Forget the heat, now we have a flood.’”
Brown was the only one present in the area when the incident occurred. Swannack said, “Had no one been in the building and not noticed dripping water, the damage would have been worse.”
The first staff members to respond were Brown; Schmidt; MaryAnn Montefinese, Custodian; Donna Mancini, Office Coordinator for WMCX; and Eric Reisher, Broadcast Technical Assistant for Hawk TV.
Brown said, “We tried to place large garbage cans in the area where the water was coming down from the ceiling to catch the water, but the water had spread throughout much of the middle section of The Outlook office.”
Schmidt arrived soon after and noted, “It was a waterfall, it was not a leak. There was 2 to 2 1/2 inches of water on the floor already.” Schmidt was the first to start unhooking electrical plugs to save computers, according to Brown.
Facilities Management and faculty members from other departments came shortly after to assist in cleaning up and preventing further damage. “It was all hands on deck,” said Mancini.
Facilities Management continued to move computers and furniture, as well as assess the damage. The team also started cleaning the area with a water removal machine and wiping down wet surfaces while the HVAC crew began working on the ceiling. Marta Figueroa, Director of Compliance and Mail Room Operations, was in charge of inspecting water damage and removing wet material from the walls to prevent mold.
Eventually, the water was turned off so the leak slowed to a drip; however, the water had leaked down in to the first floor storage depot. According to Mancini, no equipment was damaged in the Hawk TV storage area, as the water missed the shelves with all of the cameras and the equipment was moved immediately by Reisher for preventative measures.
Several hours later, the second pipe ruptured. Facilities Management had been reinforcing the hot water coils and got to the last one, though it still had water in it. Before soldering the pipe, the water had to be forced out with air, yet this led to the second rupture outside of Brown’s office.
Brown said, “There was no way to contain this break, the water went throughout the middle section up to the entrance of the second office in the suite entry area.”
The second burst urged more water to flow from the first floor storage depot in to the first floor hallway, the Hawk TV technical storage room, and the main studio. Again, the equipment in these rooms was moved immediately to prevent any damage.
Erin Fleming, Executive Producer of Production Services, said, “If it had happened on the day we were shooting we would have had to cancel eight guests and various crew members, and you have to pay them because you can’t cancel the day of…It was a huge deal in terms of what could have been a major crisis and what was averted because of what they did, so I couldn’t have been happier.”
Repairs have been in progress even after students returned to campus following Winter Break. Carpeted flooring has been pulled up and replaced with vinyl tile, wet sheetrock has been removed and painted, and the cold water and hot water coils have been repaired until they can be fully replaced.
Fleming said, “The only thing I would say is that we have to be careful not to keep the temperature in the building so low that the pipes burst because that was what happened. The weather was unusual, but perhaps spending a little money on keeping the heat a little higher in the end will save them a lot of money in having an issue like that.”
Faculty members were restricted with limited access to the office, only allowed in after 5 p.m. when the workers were finished each day’s repairs. Full access was granted for the faculty members on Thursday, Jan. 22. Brown said, “A lot of teamwork has been happening these past few days to get the suite operational again for The Outlook staff to return to the suite.”
The Outlook staff was then permitted to enter the office on Sunday, Jan. 25. Brianna McCabe, Editor-In-Chief of The Outlook and a senior Journalism major, said, “Because of the flood, some very sensitive information that I was writing for an upcoming issue was misplaced. Hopefully now that the reconstruction is practically complete, my files reappear.”
Rumors of other pipe bursts and floods in Bey Hall, Howard Hall, and Edison Hall prior to the end of Winter Break have circulated; however, they have been discredited. “Please understand that we did not have a flood in Bey Hall or Howard Hall, only The Outlook,” said Swannack.
McCabe said, “Thankfully, though, this flood occurred over winter break when none of our staff is really occupying or utilizing the office. Our computers weren’t damaged either, at least to my knowledge. Production wasn’t halted either as a result of the flood, which makes me ecstatic. We can’t wait to get reacquainted with our newsroom and continue pumping out great issues for our University’s community.”
PHOTOS COURTESY of Sandy Brown
