As the coldest weather in decades eases its grip on Whatcom County, one especially messy problem could still linger for homeowners, businesses and schools: burst pipes.
Extensive damage from burst fire sprinkler pipes caused the Bellingham School District to permanently close its historic office building, months early.
Administrators, including Superintendent Greg Baker, had to relocate after a pipe broke early Saturday morning, Jan. 13, flooding the southern half of the main floor and the entire basement of the district office building on Dupont Street. The sprinkler system activated an alarm to the Bellingham Fire Department, which shut off the water and contacted school officials.
Administrators had already planned to move out of the 1908 building and into a new headquarters on Barkley Boulevard this spring.
The school board’s meeting room bore the brunt of the damage. The ceiling collapsed, bringing a cascade of rushing water and insulation into the boardroom, school officials said.
Employees who worked out of the building have relocated temporarily to other buildings throughout the school district, said Dana Smith, assistant communications director for the school district.
Pipes also burst at several schools and the district’s central kitchen, said Mark Peterson, district director of facilities and sustainability.
An exterior hose line froze at Bellingham High School, causing water to leak into eight classrooms, Peterson said. Classes have been moved to other parts of the building as the rooms are dried out to prevent mold. Drywall has been pulled out to allow dehumidifiers to remove moisture behind the classroom walls, Peterson said.
“Our buildings aren’t designed for 3 degrees and 50 mph winds,” Peterson said, describing the conditions early Friday morning, Jan. 12.
The low temperature of 3 degrees that morning was the coldest in Bellingham since 1982, according to records obtained from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A total cost of the damages at Bellingham schools wasn’t immediately available. An insurance adjuster was inspecting the district office on Thursday, Jan. 18.
An untold number of water pipes froze and then broke across Whatcom and north Skagit counties since frigid air descended over the region on Jan. 11. As temperatures moderated and pipes thawed throughout the past week, even more leaks were discovered.
“We’re still dealing with them right now,” said Jordan Forbes, manager at Barron Plumbing, on Thursday — one full week after the cold set in. “Calls are still coming in.”
Barron received more than 150 emergency plumbing calls on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 13–14, compared to a half dozen or a dozen on a normal weekend, Forbes said.
He estimated that 95% of the calls were either frozen or burst pipes.
City crews also responded to hundreds of water problems.
During the cold snap, the Bellingham Fire Department responded to 167 calls for sprinkler activations, water problems, electrical hazards and public-service requests, department Public Information Officer Dustin Michaelis said.
By Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 16, Bellingham Public Works had responded to 230 calls related to water problems, Maintenance Superintendent Brandon Brubaker said. The city had no significant breaks among its water lines, although several customers’ water meters broke in the cold, Brubaker said Wednesday.
Employees at U-Haul Moving and Storage at 4549 Meridian St. were still assessing the extent of water damage among the more than 700 storage units at the facility, Marketing Company President Eddie Arenibas said Wednesday.
“We’ve had good luck,” Arenibas said. “It hasn’t affected us as much as we initially thought.”
Barnes & Noble, 4099 Meridian St., announced on Facebook Monday, Jan. 15 that the bookstore’s cafe and restrooms were closed “due to an issue with our pipes.” The entire store closed Tuesday afternoon “due to continued issues with plumbing,” according to a followup Facebook post, and the store remained closed on Wednesday, according to an employee who answered the phone that day.
The employee had no comment on the store’s plumbing problems. On Facebook, Barnes & Noble told customers to check for updates on its social media channels.
A sprinkler fitting broke and began leaking Sunday, Jan. 14 at the Bellingham Theatre Guild’s space on H Street, a media representative said Wednesday over Facebook Messenger. The water was quickly contained by volunteers who were either on site at the time or arrived moments later, they said.
“Some repair work will be needed but the theater is safe to enter, rehearsals have continued and we do not anticipate a delay in opening our upcoming show, ‘Twilight Bowl,’ next Friday [Jan. 26],” they said. “The show must go on!”
Whatcom Museum at the Lightcatcher Building closed over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend because cisterns used to fill the building’s toilets froze. Then on Tuesday, Jan. 16, staff discovered water leaking onto the lobby floor, said Adrienne Dawson, marketing and public relations director for Whatcom Museum. The cause of the leak was still unknown as of Wednesday, Dawson said.
“Fortunately, it did not affect the galleries, so we’re really relieved about that,” she said.
