Residents evacuated after water pipe burst floods
Mississauga high-rise
National Post
Aileen Donnelly
07 April 2011
Residents of a condominium complex in Mississauga have been forced to
leave their homes after a water pipe burst Thursday morning, flooding
the building with boiling hot water, and damaging the electrical system.
Shortly after 5 a.m., Mississauga Fire crews and Peel Regional Police
responded to alarm bells at 4080 Living Arts Drive, near the Square One
Shopping Centre. On the sixth floor of the building, they found that a
four-inch pressurized hot water line in the hallway had burst and water
was rapidly flowing into suites on the sixth floor and seeping into
units below.
“(The water pipe) was inside the wall, in the hallway, but it burst
right into an apartment, through the drywall. It was like a mini
explosion through the wall,” said Platoon Chief Alan Hills.
Injuries
Some of the residents sustained injuries, but none were life
threatening. A woman on the sixth floor suffered first degree burns on
her feet, police said. She was taken to Mississauga Trillium Hospital
for treatment and is expected to recover. A second woman experienced
chest pains and was treated at the scene.
Two cats died in one of the units on the sixth floor when a
17-inch-high wall of water crashed into the suite, Hills said.
A pregnant woman, who was one week overdue, started having contractions
after the pipe burst and was trapped above the flooded floors.
Firefighters carried the woman down 23 flights of stairs and she was
taken to a local hospital where she is doing well, police said.
The power went out on floors one through five due to the flooding and
the electricity was subsequently cut to the whole building because the
water damage has compromised the electrical system, Platoon Chief Hills
said.
Electricians are on the scene attempting to dry out the electrical
conduits but officials do not know how long it will take before power
can be restored.
Earlier, fire crews successfully evacuated floors one through six and
have disconnected the water supply until the pipe is repaired. Platoon
Chief Hill said plumbers are on the scene now, but it’s hard to say how
long it will take.
Officials have not yet determined what caused the sudden pipe burst.
“It looks like this was an accidental rupture. At this time, we don’t
have an explanation for it. Normally, when something like this happens,
it would happen in the winter — when we go from sudden cooling, to
heating, and back again — but it didn’t occur this way. Plus, this was
an inside pipe not an outside pipe,” Platoon Chief Hill said.
“This will be a big loss for the apartment building and for the
residents,” Platoon Chief Hill said. “The water damage is significant
that it could cost up to $1-million.”
Note:
Three
days later fire and emergency back-up systems, electricity and
elevators were back in service and heating was back on from the seventh
floor and above, where residents were allowed back in.
This was a new 30 story condo across the street from Square One.
Unexpected problems can happen in new buildings as well as older ones.
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