MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Damage assessments and cleanup are underway at the Evergreen Assisted Living facility near Morgantown after residents had to be evacuated Tuesday afternoon following a sprinkler line break.
Monongalia County MECCA 911 Executive Director Jim Smith said it’s believed sprinkler system pipes in the second floor burst due to the weather around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon. Within about 36 hours the temperature went from three degrees into the mid-30s, creating the conditions that could cause pipes to break.
“Sometimes you see these waterlines pop like this up in the ceilings,” Smith said. “It dumped a lot of water in the building, brought down some ceilings on the second floor, and fortunately no injuries were reported.”
No injuries were reported but 10 people were transported in order to continue required treatments or because they were temporarily unable to access their rooms.
“Mon EMS did have to transport 10 folks,’ Smith said. “I think five went to Mon General and five went to J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital.”
Buses from the Mountain Line Transit Authority were offered and placed on standby if some of the patients needed to be transported to another location. The buses were never needed.
“The Mountain Line provided a couple of buses if we needed them, and fortunately we didn’t need to take those people out of the Morgantown area,” Smith said.
Smith said multiple agencies pulled together during the response to ensure the safety of the residents. Inspectors from the State Fire Marshal’s Office made a trip to the site late Tuesday to make sure the structure was safe before all of the residents returned.
“The great thing about Monongalia County is that when you have an incident like this, a lot of people step up to the plate,” Smith said.
Assisted Living at Evergreen is located on Collins Ferry Road just outside of Morgantown. Those who operate the facility chose not to comment for this story.