Many homes and businesses are drying out from pipes bursting after this year’s record cold temperatures. During one firefighting shift last month, the Flagstaff Fire Department responded to about 40 calls of burst pipes, including 21 businesses. Deputy Fire Chief Jim Wheeler says 2011 has been the worst of his 21 years on the department. He estimates crews responded to nearly 250 structures with water pipe issues since the new year.
Flagstaff Fire Department Captain Kevin Wilson said the strong winds accompanying the cold temperatures affected many sprinkler systems. They are often in non-insulated attic spaces and when the pipes burst, causing water to gush out, people call 911.
“Those systems are under pressure, so there is no way to stop the water flow until somebody gets in there and stops the main water shutoff or shuts down the sprinkler system,” Wilson said.
Along with 911, many people called Rick Krug, founder of TG’s Carpet and Restoration. “Since Jan. 1, our billing is close to half a million dollars of just water damage and water loss,” he said. “When it’s 21 below zero and 35 below with the wind chill, pipes are going to burst.”
And the problem is not unique to Northern Arizona. Pipes have been bursting on the West Coast to Texas and the Carolinas. Krug says while it is difficult to quantify, industry peers estimate the cost of damages will come close to meeting or exceeding Hurricane Katrina.
While inconvenient and sometimes expensive for property owners, bursting pipes have been a boon for some businesses. While Krug’s company owns a lot of equipment, he joined hundreds of other companies across the country renting additional machines. “We have rented about 425 dehumidifiers, which are the large machines that pull moisture out of the air, and probably 1200 air movers.” He described a semi-truck delivering about 900 pieces of equipment so he and his crew could get the water out of local structures. Krug says rentals were so scarce nationwide that he received a phone call from Kentucky with someone looking to rent his equipment.
In Krug’s 15 years in business, he has never seen such widespread need for his type of services. “There was Katrina and the hurricanes, but this was across the entire country.”
Flagstaff plumber Dale Drye has also been keeping busy with this year’s weather events, receiving 150 calls in January alone. In addition to responding after pipes burst, Drye is able to unfreeze pipes with heat guns, heat tape and other equipment. The owner of Speedy Plumbing and Rooter Service says he and his staff have been working a lot of long hours.
In addition to fixing problems after they occur, Drye spends time educating people on avoiding winter-related problems.
“Mainly, we tell people to keep the crawl space sealed up the best they can so wind can’t blow through there,” said Drye. “With the wind chill and lots of freezing, they also need to check around the foundation to make sure everything is closed up.” He says people need to check their foundations, which can sometimes break down and allow freezing to take place, affecting pipes.
Drye has about 26 years of experience, with six years as a business owner. He thinks the high number of pipe bursts could be attributable in part to a lack of snow cover during the early part of the year. “Snow on the ground is an insulator.”
Krug agrees and thinks snow also serves another purpose. “When it’s 22 below and there is no weather going on except the cold, it is kind of deceptive; people don’t take the same precautions,” he surmised. “When it snows, people tend to do things like turn the heat up and check the pipes.”
If history repeats itself, the hard freezes are over for this winter in Northern Arizona, and problematic pipe issues are, too. But this year is certainly one for the record books, said National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Klimowski. “In early February, there was a high of only 10 or 11 degrees, which is very unusual for Flagstaff.”
While he went on to list a record low March temperature of -10, the coldest daytime high temperature for the month is 21 degrees, more than 20 degrees colder than the average for this time of year. FBN