Frigid temps, broken pipes create ice waterfall at Detroit warehouse
Two pipes burst, freezing a whole side of the building into a huge ice wall in addition to flooding the building.
DETROIT (FOX 2):For one neighborhood structure and its stewards, what began as a normal cold spell in Detroit became a terrifying issue.
Two pipes burst, freezing a whole side of the building into a huge ice wall in addition to flooding the building.
“When you saw the sight what went through your mind?” asked Hilary Golston of FOX 2.
“What the hell is going on,” co-owner Ramsey Beard exclaimed. “Now we ve got an ice wall here if anybody likes to climb – please don t.”
The backstory
What caused the ice fall was captured on phone footage.
“The water is obviously frozen, it damaged a few windows and it s a little bit hard to work around now, we’ve got to thaw it out and pump a lot of water out,” Beard added. “A lot was flowing out all at once. Four gallons per second were present.
In the icy interior of the expansive 72,000-square-foot structure, two water pipes failed.
“We definitely got a little damage on the inside,” he stated. “Got some equipment, got some mechanical issues on the inside that we’ve gotta work on.”
The structure is located at the intersection of Sylvester and Beaufait. According to Ramsey Beard, they found the problem late on Sunday and early on Monday.
According to the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, they received notification on Monday and dispatched an investigator the same day; however, they were unable to secure a team to switch off the water until Tuesday.
They claimed that in order to turn it off, the commercial valve had to be dug up and the ice had to be taken out of the stop box.
Golston said, “It s amazing when it gets cold, what can happen with pipes.”
“It’s very amazing – Mother Nature is a force to be reckoned with,” Beard stated.
In addition to the enormous burden of renovating the enormous building, they now have a big task to do.
The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department and Ramsey Beard, a co-owner of the building, are the sources of this report.