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Buffalo nursing home transfers 60 residents after pipe bursts

Buffalo News - 2/1/2019

Feb. 01--A break in a sprinkler pipe on the fourth floor of a Delaware Avenue nursing home Friday morning prompted the transfer of about 60 residents, a Buffalo fire official said.

The 1 1/2-inch water line to a sprinkler head burst shortly before 7:44 a.m. at Buffalo Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing at Delaware and East Utica Street. In the 15 minutes it took Buffalo firefighters to shut down the water supply, approximately 6 inches of water had pooled on the C wing of the fourth floor and dripped down to the floors below, according to Division Chief Daniel Bossi.

The residents were evacuated from the second, third and fourth floors, he said, adding there are offices on the first floor. There were no injuries, and no residents got wet, he said.

Bossi said the residents were moved to Ellicott Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing on Seventh Street.

"They have a sister facility and arrangements are being made to transfer the residents. They could be there for two days, up to two weeks," Bossi said. "No one was injured and the staff handled the evacuation very well."

The pipe that burst is above a dropped ceiling and feeds a sprinkler at the end of the hall, he said.

The strong winds had chilled that end of the building, Bossi said. He said he expects there will be more breaks in sprinkler systems elsewhere as the weather improves and buildings warm.

"We've got everything under control and transfers are in the works," an assistant administrator of Buffalo Center said, as water dripped down the walls.

Frank Wood of Davis Ulmer, who is repairing the line, said it may take 24 hours for the pipe to work because it's a plastic line.

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