Pipe bursts cause soaking

Classes at Alberton Elementary resumed Wednesday after Tuesday water leak

ALBERTON – Classes were back to normal Wednesday at Alberton Elementary school after a burst drainage pipe caused the school to shut down for the day on Tuesday.

Vice-principal Kelly Pitre said a drainage pipe broke in the upper floor ceiling, near the office, shortly after 8 a.m.

Principal Shanna Perry said there is speculation that the freeze-thaw weather conditions caused the pipe to break.

“Luckily we had people in the building,” Pitre said, noting staff were already arriving for the day. Buses hadn’t yet arrived, but a few students had already been dropped off by parents.

Buses soon arrived for the 8:30 a.m. start of the school day and arrangements were made to send the students back home by 9:30 a.m.

The school was set to host its Language Arts, Heritage and Science Fair on Tuesday and many projects were already set up in the gymnasium and were not impacted. The fair was rescheduled to Wednesday.

By early dismissal, staff were already busily at work trying to soak up the water or flush it out the front door, and schoolboard personnel were enroute.

A plumber was called in and installed a plug to stop the water flow.

But, by then, a lot of water had flowed through the burst pipe, down through the floors and down the stairs to the lower level.

“It was a lot of water, but with everybody working together it was a very ‘Up-West’ moment,” Pitre said, describing the clean-up.

Dehumidifiers are now running in the building to help draw out the moisture.