A pipe broke and flooded a portion of Boone Central School in Albion last Wednesday, Jan. 2.
Fortunately, the break occurred in the afternoon when school staff and all custodians were present in the building, which kept water damage to a minimum.
The school’s fire alarm sounded at about 2:15 p.m. due to the leak in the overhead fire suppression system above a large storage closet on the south side of the art room. This area was part of the school kitchen before the building was remodeled in 2016-17.
The main valve for the fire sprinklers, located on the east side of the building, was turned off within a few minutes, but several thousand gallons of water had sprayed from the pressurized system by that time. Water continued to flow after the valve was shut off until the water volume was reduced.
“It seemed like it took forever for the water to stop running,” said Superintendent Nicole Hardwick. “I was thankful many of us were here at the time.”
Water from the leak flooded the art room and traveled down the hallway to the north, reaching the Performance Gym, the elementary wing and the science wing.
Staff members used towels to stop the water from reaching the wood floor in the gym.
Many student art projects inside the storage room were destroyed by the water. Also damaged were the ceiling and lights in the storage closet, along with many stored supplies. An inventory of the damage is being compiled.
Apparent cause of the leak was a frozen pipe.
Cleanup of the damage began immediately. ServiceMaster was on site by 5 p.m. Wednesday, and they were expected to wrap up their part of remediation by Saturday.
Continental Fire Sprinkler Co., which installed the suppression system, had made repairs and recharged the system by Friday.
Sampson Construction Co., contractor for the school project, as well as their HVAC subcontractor, were also on the scene last week to determine the cause and make necessary repairs or modifications.
