Pipe freezes, floods NPAC lobby

Numerous days of severe cold weather caused a pipe to break in the Nelson Physical Activity Center Thursday.

Around 1 p.m. Thursday, one of the sprinkler pipes near the entrance to the NPAC burst and water started filling the entryway.

The fire alarm was triggered and an automated voice was sounded in the building telling everyone to evacuate because of a fire.

“The extreme change of temperature was the main reason the pipe busted,” said Ashley Dent, NPAC Coordinator.

Approximately 15-20 employees and NPAC visitors tried to contain the water and push it outside before maintenance arrived shortly after the break. They used squeegees, brooms, shovels, and anything else they could find to hold the water.

“It was definitely a joint effort to contain the water,” said Dent.

Alan Cisneros, supervisor of maintenance, had a crew bring extra custodians to get the NPAC functioning like normal again.

Fans were kept on all day and the doors were propped open to help ventilate the building.

Dent contacted a company in Rapid City, S.D. that came to assess the damage and see what repairs needed to be made.

“The pipe was cracked in four places and because of that, they didn’t have enough tools to repair on Friday, so they came back Monday to fix it,” Dent said.

Dent is grateful that this incident happened during the day when there were people around.

“I’m glad it happened when someone was here opposed to overnight. No telling how much damage would’ve been done.”

Currently, all of the damage has been fixed but there is a possibility of further sheetrock repair because of mold issues.

“The damages probably came to no more then a few hundred dollars,” said Dale Grant, vice president of administration and finance.