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Written by Administrator
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December 10, 2006 |
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A broken heater pipe at the Reading High School pours hundreds of gallons of water into more than a half dozen class rooms on three floors of the main building. Damage to computers and personal items exceeded that of the building.
Around 12:30 this afternoon, Engine 8, Snorkel 1 and Car 7 were dispatched to an AFA at the Reading Senior High School at 801 No. 13th Street. Upon arrival they checked the alarm panel and were directed by maintenance to the location of the effected area the alarm was coming from. Along the way, they encountered water in the hallway and discovered it was coming from a class room on the second floor of the main building. When the door of the room was opened, several inches of water, that had built up inside the room, poured out into the hallway. A broken heater pipe was clearly visible and gallons of hot water continued to spill from a split in the pipe.
Maintenance radioed other personnel working in the building and they responded to the area to attempt to determine the location of the feed to the area so they could pinpoint the valve that controlled that section. Water had already flooded the involved class room and several rooms surrounding it. Firefighters went down to the rooms below and discovered several class rooms on the first floor already flooded, upon investigation, the same condition was found in the basement shop areas where the photography and printing class rooms were located.
While maintenance searched for the sectional valve to stop the water flow, Car 7 called for additional apparatus to assist in the clean up. Rescue 1 and Ladder 1 were called for manpower and equipment first. Later, Tower 1 and Engine 1 were dispatched. Medic 602 was also called to stand-by and assisted in the efforts.
Several prosser pumps were set up and the water was pumped to the outside. Firefighters used squeegees to push the water into the pumps. Plastic was spread out to cover computers and divert the dripping water coming from the ceiling. Numerous ceiling tiles fell from the dropped ceiling as the weight of the water became too much for them to hold. Floating in the water were pictures and paperwork that fell from bulletin boards as they became saturated and fell from the walls. Items of personal effects were picked up and placed tenderly on the desks. In some of the rooms and hallways where smaller puddles of water collected, firefighters used water vacuums to pick up the standing water.When the majority of water was removed the crews began cleaning up their equipment. After more than two hours of work the incident was turned over to school maintenance who began their major clean up of the aftermath. It is unknown what may have caused the pipe to burst or if the incident will affect classes when students return on Monday. There was no estimate on damages available.
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