At about 5:30 p.m. Thursday, a broken fire alarm sprinkler caused flooding in the School of Public Health Building.
“Some students were moving some equipment and broke off a sprinkler head. The flow of water sets off the fire alarm and brings in the fire department,” Jack Baker, director of operations and maintenance within Facilities Management, wrote in an email. “We are in the process of cleaning up.”
The fire alarm is located outside of the family science office suite, and “there was major flooding in the building due to water gushing out of the broken sprinkler head,” according to an email sent to students in the department.
All of the office suites and rooms in proximity to the fire alarm were inspected for water. Hallways on the first floor and ground floor were flooded, as well as the family science office suite in the front lobby and work room, according to the email. Three Center for Healthy Families clinic rooms were also affected by the water.
“We spent the night cleaning up water and will be there again today,” Baker wrote.
The next step for Facilities Management testing for moisture in the walls to determine if they have to cut sheet rock, Baker wrote. Workers might have to cut out parts of the plasterboard walls to dry them out, which would mean the walls will than have to be repaired. They will also look at the carpets in the building.
“The building is certainly usable and safe but the restoration effort may go on for weeks,” Baker wrote.
