This past Saturday, due to the cold weather, a main pipe froze causing flooding in the fine arts wing.
“When one of the sprinkler heads break, it’s one of the worst things that could happen,” said janitor, Chubbs.
The accident mainly occurred between the choir and journalism rooms, primarily impacting the flooring, allowing the cracks between the floors to swell and create discoloration due to the absorption of the water. The water was so extensive that one of the security cameras could see water flowing through the hallways.
“We’re not exactly sure how long it was unattended, but in about one minute 35,000 gallons of water can escape,” Chubbs said.
Mr. Pollard was one of the first staff members to be alerted of the incident, but although upon contacting him, it was discovered that he did not have the appropriate phone numbers for contacting a crew to stop the flooding and repair the damages.
According to Mr. Vopal, the night crew staff members are normally contacted first because of their greater numbers. The nighttime supervisor is in charge of putting together a group of employees to best accommodate the issue.
Fortunately, about 20/25 crew members showed up to help clean up the mess.
“The water was extensive, but the crew came quickly and really tackled the problem,” said Associate Principal, Mike Vopal.
The ice on the roads made it very difficult to reach the system where the temperature levels are managed and kept at a safe temperature for the pipes to operate. Power outages caused the heating system to fail, therefore allowing the pipes to freeze and burst, which caused the flood.
“Everyone worked really hard to clean it up, there were a lot of us and together we got it taken care of before and substantial damage was done,” said Chubbs.
Granted, this was not apart of the MHS employees’ agenda, but the situation has been resolved.