[Press Release] : Millcreek Elementary School evacuated when fire sprinkler main breaks due to cold weather

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Chief Steven Sapp - (573) 499-7035

Millcreek Elementary School evacuated when fire sprinkler main breaks
due to cold weather

COLUMBIA, MO (January 16, 2009) - Around 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16,
the Columbia Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at Millcreek
Elementary School, 2200 Nifong Blvd. Upon arrival, fire crews noted that
the school had been evacuated. Staff from Millcreek advised the fire
crews that a water pipe had burst in room 218 and there were several
inches of water in the room and hall. 

Due to the number of students outside, the first arriving crew
requested that additional units including the Columbia Fire Department
bus be dispatched to the scene. 

It was soon determined that the water line break and water issues were
confined to room 218, the adjoining classrooms on each side, and the
hallway those rooms ran off of. 

Fire crews had the staff bring the children back into the school where
they were housed in the gymnasium and media center. It is estimated that
the children were outside for less than 10 minutes, however with
temperatures in the teens, ambulance personnel on the scene were asked
to monitor the children for any signs of exposure to cold. EMS personnel
reported no children were suffering from any effects of being outdoors.
None of the children in the kindergarten room, room 218, were injured or
doused with water when the pipe burst while they were watching a video
on art issues. 

Fire crews and personnel from the Columbia Public Schools shut off the
water supply to the fire sprinklers and began mopping up the hallway and
classroom where the break occurred. There was some water on the lower
floors into the mechanical room where electrical distribution equipment
is housed, but it too was soon cleaned up. 

Columbia Public Schools contacted an electrical contractor and fire
sprinkler contractor to examine and repair any systems. 

Millcreek Elementary School is expected to function normally when
classes resume on Tuesday, Jan. 20. 

- 30 -
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