Burst pipe causes: game time evacuation, water damage, relocated classes

Last night, the Girls Varsity Basketball team was leading on the scoreboard against rival La Follette as the blare of a fire alarm abruptly interrupted the game, signaling to evacuate the building. Students, staff and spectators alike appeared confused. Evacuating through the Welcome Center (door #2), theater students who had been rehearsing, the band that had been playing during the game and many others came across water raining out of the Welcome Center suite ceiling and pooling near the doorways. 

     While everyone waited outside in the confusion and cold (it was 0 degrees outside), firefighters came to the scene to determine the cause of the flooding and to stop or at least slow it from causing even more damage. 

     “A pipe burst in the choir room, causing water to leak and free flow out from the music wing,” Madison firefighter Phil Rucetti said.

     Overall, there was water damage in the music wing flowing down through the ceiling into the Welcome Center and Cafeteria. In addition to the overall damage and initial confusion, the flooding also led to pep band complications. With over an inch of water in the hallway, staff weren’t allowing students to go through the wing to put away their instruments or get their belongings out of the band room. But, two students, juniors Molly Lenius and Quetzali Nunez, saved the day. They went through the water into the band room, and brought their peers’ coats and backpacks out to the music wing balcony so the students could access them. 

     “Initially we didn’t go through, but then they let us through,” Nunez said. “I had gotten my oboe out and Molly had gotten her stuff out, then I had the idea of getting our stuff since it was already hard enough… we saw this cart and started to stack coats and backpacks on it.” 

     The results of the flooding and damage to the music wing has led to the music classes being moved to rooms 1305 and 1304 for today and tomorrow. 

     “…so the band was in the middle of performing when the fire alarm went off,” band teacher Robert Cunningham said. “We had to go out in the cold. It was stressful since we didn’t know where we’d put the instruments, but it was still fun because we did get to play at half-time and with the cheerleaders.”

     Additionally, any staff with offices in the music wing, the Welcome Center or near the cafeteria have also been displaced while their workspaces are inaccessible. This includes behavior support staff Rene Avila relocated to 1037C, administrative assistant Lisi Daniels relocated to room 2303, and Keyerah Bennet and Terrance Shempert to room 3315. 

     For the rest of the week and into next week, the cafeteria is cordoned off, though it will be accessible for breakfast and lunch but with no seating. The Commons and Community rooms off of the cafeteria will also be unavailable into next week as well.

     The Welcome Center entrance – door #2 — will also be closed off for now. Everyone is encouraged to use door #1 to catch the busses on East Washington Ave., or exit door #4 through the Field House to the main parking lot for pick-up and drop-off.

Gallery • 8 Photos

Alaina Coleman

The alarm went off around 6 p.m. on Tuesday night during the Girls Varsity Basketball game. Everyone had to evacuate and wait outside in the 0 degree weather while firefighters investigated.

NOTE: Since the incident just occurred last night, we do not yet have estimates on the damage or timeline for detailed repairs. We will update the story as new information becomes available.