BY ASHLEE REZIN Staff Reporter January 8, 2014 1:36AM

A water main break sent water pouring into the street in the 4900 block of North Pulaski Road about 10:40 p.m. Tuesday, closing the street between Argyle and Ainslie streets. | NVP News video

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Updated: January 8, 2014 5:22AM

A leak in a companys fire system flooded the business and Pulaski Road Tuesday night, forcing firefighters to wade through knee-deep icy water in the Albany Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.

The commercial buildings sprinkler system burst about 10:40 p.m. and sent water pouring into the street in the 4900 block of North Pulaski Road, authorities said.

The leak was likely caused by icy weather conditions and frozen pipes, said Bill Bresnahan, managing deputy commissioner of the citys Department of Water Management.

Firefighters, who at the scene could be seen wading through the knee-deep icy water, were able to gain access to the building and stop the leak, Bresnahan said. The National Weather Service reports temperatures hit 6 degrees below zero in the Chicago area overnight.

As of 4 a.m., at least one lane of Pulaski remained closed to traffic between Argyle and Ainslie streets as Department of Streets and Sanitation salt-spreaders treated the ice that had formed, police said.

It was not immediately known how much damage the business sustained during the incident.

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Burst sprinkler system floods business, Pulaski Road on NW Side

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January 8th, 2014 10:27 pm by Staff report

KINGSPORT A frozen sprinkler line or head began leaking Wednesday afternoon at Sullivan North High School, sending crews scrambling to isolate the leak and get the sprinkler system back in operation for school Thursday.

Joe Davenport, county school system maintenance supervisor, said the leak occurred in the North pool area not being used and caused minimal damage. He said the leak occurred as the frozen water thawed. The school is not utilizing that area of the pool and has not for some time.

The issue is getting the sprinkler system to be in operation for school tomorrow, Davenport said Wednesday night as a sprinkler contractor headed to the school to address the situation.

North also was hit with a sprinkler problem last year. The band room received between $23,000 and $43,000 in damage to equipment from a non-weather-related sprinkler head malfunction the morning of Nov. 21.

Davenport said he was confident the sprinkler system would be back in operation for school Thursday.

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Sprinkler leak hits Sullivan North pool area

The freeze was bad enough.

Now, thawing water pipes have been setting off sprinkler systems and fire alarms, flooding some businesses and homes and keeping area fire departments busy.

It seems like all weve been answering lately are water alarms, Knoxville Fire Dept. Capt. D.J. Corcoran said on Wednesday. We have received close to 30 calls of businesses fire alarms activated, as well as residential calls of water lines freezing and bursting. Nonemergency calls are directed to KUB, he said.

KFD scanner traffic on Wednesday referred to several businesses, including the Hampton Inn on Strawberry Plains Pike, the Tennessee Theatre in downtown Knoxville, and the H.T. Hackney Co. on Rutledge Pike.

Some residences are reporting the same problem, Corcoran said. We expect to have more calls (Thursday).

Water lines that feed sprinkler systems can freeze overnight, and the resulting expansion of water can cause a crack in the pipeline. As pipes begin to thaw out, water escapes through the cracks.

Then the water movement sets off the alarm and the sprinkler system, Corcoran said. Its really been causing us havoc.

The Tennessee Theatre did not sustain any significant damage, and the Wednesday night performance of Shen Yun was scheduled to go on, theater manager Tom Bugg said.

A pipe connected to the sprinkler system at the Knox County Health Departments Teague Clinic, 405 Dante Road, burst Wednesday because of extremely low temperatures, said Katharine Killen, community relations director. The clinic will be closed Thursday and Friday for repairs. Clinic staff will contact patients to reschedule appointments, she said.

On Tuesday, the East Tennessee Technologys Access Center had a break in its sprinkler system. Officials are asking people to wait until next week to bring donations of computers and durable medical equipment that were requested earlier for its clients with disabilities. Anyone with an emergency need for durable medical equipment can call 865-475-4421 and leave a name and phone number.

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Thawing pipes setting off sprinkler systems, causing 'havoc' among fire departments

ROANOKE, Va. -

Area homeowners and businesses aren't the only ones exempt from problems cause by these frigid conditions.

The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport also dealt with a pipe break due to cold weather.

Tuesday morning, the sprinkler system on the 10th floor of the air traffic control tower froze and burst.

The tower was forced to turn off electric equipment and leave the area because that water turned to ice.

Air traffic controllers were forced to head to a lower-level radar room called, "TRACON."

"They monitored the flights from the TRACON in the lower level basement of the air traffic control tower. And, pilots that came in and out of the airport came in -airplanes came in, one at a time -and pilots operated on operated on instrument approach and talked to air traffic controllers that way to come in and out of the airport," says Amanda DeHaven, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the airport.

DeHaven says there were no cancellation or delays because of the problem

Air traffic controllers were back in the tower by 9o'clock Tuesday night.

In 13-hours, 42-plane took off and landed.

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Broken sprinkler system forces air traffic controllers to lower ground

(BPT) - When it comes to the safety of your home and family, you would probably say money is no object. Yet cost (real or perceived) has long deterred many homeowners from considering a residential fire sprinkler system to protect their homes. The systems cut the risk of dying in a home fire by 80 percent, have broad support from safety experts and can even qualify you for a discount on your homeowners insurance. But until now, a perception of high cost has overshadowed those positives.

A new study reveals that the price of residential fire sprinkler systems has dropped significantly, creating an opportunity for safety-minded homeowners to tap the many benefits of sprinklers.

In 2008, the average per-foot cost of a residential fire sprinkler system was $1.61; in 2013, the average per-foot cost has plunged to $1.35, according to a report by the Fire Protection Research Foundation. Multipurpose systems that use a homes cold-water supply, rather than a separate piping system, are even more affordable just $1.23 per square foot, the report found.

And costs are likely to drop even lower, one expert says.

More communities are considering, or have already implemented, fire sprinkler requirements for new, single-family homes, says Eric Skare, a volunteer firefighter and fire safety systems product manager for Uponor North America (www.uponor-usa.com), an Apple Valley, Minn.-based sprinkler system manufacturer. Growing demand has resulted in increased competition and lower installed costs for these systems. Manufacturers competing for market share continue to develop lower-cost products to ensure the cost-effectiveness of residential fire sprinkler systems.

The lower cost is good news for anyone interested in protecting their home with a fire sprinkler system, Skare says. The benefits of such systems are many:

* Eighty percent of all fire deaths occur in residential fires. While functioning smoke alarms reduce the risk of home fire fatalities by 50 percent, sprinklers slash the risks by 80 percent, according to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

* Multipurpose systems like those provided by Uponor reduce the amount of piping needed to supply sprinkler systems because they tie into a homes existing cold-water plumbing system. Instead of two piping systems - plumbing and fire-sprinkler - the builder need install only one, reducing material, labor costs and jobsite-scheduling hassles, saving 35 percent to 65 percent in installation time over standalone, rigid CPVC systems. That, in turn, should result in a lower cost to the home buyer.

* Homeowners insurance companies provide an average premium discount of 7 percent to homes with fire sprinkler systems, according to the Fire Protection Research Foundation.

* Home fire sprinkler systems act quickly to reduce heat, flames and smoke from fire, giving families valuable time to safely get out of a burning home. Sprinklers extinguish most home fires in seconds, before the fire department arrives and before major damage can occur, Skare notes. In fact, sprinklers are far less damaging than fire hoses used by firefighting teams. One study in Scottsdale, Ariz., found the average fire damage loss for a home without sprinklers was more than $45,000; with sprinklers, losses shrink to slightly more than $2,100.

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Cost of home fire sprinklers at all-time lows; benefits still high

HELEN - Two Helen businesses sustained frozen pipes, one resulting in significant damage, early Tuesday.

Capt. Lee Poteat of Helen Fire Department said the now-vacant Sunflower Chinese restaurant, a former KFC which he described as about a 5,000-square-foot building, was filled with about eight inches of water when firefighters arrived.

That's not counting all the water that ran out of the building into the parking lot and onto surrounding properties.

City officials estimate that between 250,000 and 400,000 gallons of water flowed through the vacant building's fire sprinkler system into the parking lot, adjacent lots and even onto Edelweiss Street, resulting in icing issues.

"It was a lot of water," said Helen Public Works Director Ross Hewell.

At Jameson Inn near the entrance to the city, a pipe broke above the hotel's swimming pool, which overflowed as a result.

"Jameson Inn broke a sprinkler line just above their pool," Poteat said. "Thank goodness it was above the pool. The pool overflowed into the retention pond down there."

Tuesday afternoon, City Manager Jerry Elkins said additional broken pipes had been reported at several businesses in the city, including Charlemagne's Kingdom, Huddle House, and Alpine Village Inn. In addition, an outside faucet burst at the River Street public restrooms.

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Helen businesses damaged by broken pipes

LITTLE ROCK, AR -- Pipes burst Monday morning at a special needs school in the Hillcrest neighborhood in Little Rock.

"Several of our toddlers, sitting at the table for snack, and water pouring like a waterfall out of the ceiling, on top of them," Program Coordinator Jackie Beatty said. "Water was pouring out all into the classroom making a big mess."

Teachers heard a loud boom and certainly didn't expect what came next.

"We take precautions as far as the dripping of facets etc., in the restrooms, but the sprinkler system, I'm not too sure we could have prevented that," Director Suzy Benham said.

As water flooded the floors, the teachers quickly evacuated the school. But with bitter cold and special needs students, this faculty base knew standing outside waiting for firefighters wasn't an option. So the children waited in cars.

"Not only are you trying to get kids out of here, but your trying to get oxygen, their trec kits, their medications, everything," Benham said.

Benham said the children were moved out of the school safely in less than two minutes. School will be cancelled Tuesday as the cleanup continues. But Tuesday won't bring about the end of their problems.

"There are materials that are in the classrooms, all of that will probably be replaced, so yes it's a longterm fix," Beatty said.

Link:
LR School Closes After Sprinkler System Bursts

ROCK FALLS A frozen pipe burst in the sprinkler system at Civic Plaza II early Saturday morning, eventually forcing the evacuation of all 63 residents.

The call from the low-income apartment complex at 1113 Fifth Ave. came in to the Rock Falls Fire Department about 3:30 a.m., Captain Cris Bouwens said.

"The problem started on the fifth floor, and water was raining down wherever it comes down the floor," Bouwens said. "There were not only water concerns, but electrical at that point."

After the power was turned off in the building, a venting issue caused elevated carbon monoxide readings, but Bouwens said it was quickly addressed and never presented a danger to any of the residents.

Bouwen said the pipe froze because of problems with a rooftop heating unit that regulated heat in areas outside of the residents' rooms, including hallways and the meeting room. The individual rooms have separate heating units that were working.

"They've been having issues with that rooftop unit for awhile," Bouwen said.

A call for assistance went out to Lincolnland Red Cross of Rock Falls about 4 a.m., according to volunteer Karen Nelson, the disaster action team leader. The residents did still have heat in a meeting room while they waited to find out if they would have to leave.

"We had to wait for the inspector and other officials to evaluate the situation, and they decided to evacuate at about 9:30 [a.m.]," Nelson said.

The evacuation was made difficult by the fact that many of the residents are elderly and disabled. A majority of the residents had family or friends to stay with, Nelson said. About 23 needed transportation assistance and temporary shelter.

"It was a long process getting everyone out, but we set up a temporary shelter at the community center before transporting them to the Days Inn in Rock Falls," Bouwens said. Residents spent about 4 hours at the community center, where they were fed.

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Civic Plaza II residents evacuated

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Busted sprinkler forces evacuation at Harper Woods nursing facility

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YORK, Maine Quick work by school custodial staff and York firefighters averted what could have been "major damage" to Coastal Ridge Elementary School on Friday.

Firefighters responded Friday morning to the school gymnasium after a sprinkler head at the rear of the gym broke, according to York Village Fire Chief Chris Balentine. As a result, there was a small amount of flooding in one corner of the gym.

"Fortunately, the staff was on site to clear snow and heard the fire alarm go off, which dispatched the Fire Department," he said.

Balentine said that between the staff and firefighters, they were able to turn off the sprinkler system and clean up the water on the floor.

"It could have been much worse," he said, adding the sprinkler company was expected to come to the school Friday to repair the damaged head, "so all is good."

The Fire Department cleared the scene at 11:15 a.m.

Deborah McDermott

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Sprinkler break causes minor flooding at York school