The break happened around noon on Monday. Building Manager Debbie Reil said the water was shut off shortly afterward and all residents were out within two hours.

James Iannone, an employee with ABJ Fire Protection, said a “T” joint in the sprinkler system on the third floor froze and cracked in half. These fittings are where breaks commonly happen, he said, because they are the weakest point in the system.

The fitting cracked in a hallway, which Iannone said was fortunate, as it wasn’t in someone’s apartment.

Still, Tupper Lake Emergency Manager Carl Steffan said there was “quite a bit of water damage.”

James Iannone, an employee with ABJ Fire Protection, shows the “T” joint in the sprinkler system which cracked in half on Monday, flooding around 35 of the 50 apartments in the Donald E. Smith Apartments building in Tupper Lake. Forty-eight residents were displaced by the flood, and a multitude of community organizations helped them in the following days. After a repair and an inspection on Tuesday, apartment officials say they hope residents can move back in next week. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Of the 50 units in the complex, around 35, or around 70%, were flooded or damaged by the water, Steffan said.

“The pipe that broke was part of the sprinkler system which had just been inspected in early December, and no issues were noted,” Jeanne Dillon, a spokesperson for Church Street NY LLC which owns the apartments, wrote in an email. “We are currently addressing the situation with our restoration and renovation companies. Additionally, we have assisted all tenants in securing temporary housing. We are hopeful that we will be able to start moving tenants back to the building by next week.”

Steffan said the apartments used to be for all elderly residents. Now, there are some younger people living there, but the majority, he said, are the elderly and people with mobility challenges.

Reil said she was hoping to get people back in “as soon as possible.”

The Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department sent “many, many” volunteers and they worked “quickly and efficiently,” Reil said. They went to each unit, let residents take out a few belongings, and a bus transported them to the Adult Center at the Aaron Maddox Hall.

The Donald E. Smith Apartments in Tupper Lake flooded on Monday after a joint in the sprinkler system cracked, spilling water into around 35 of the 50 apartments in the building. Forty-eight residents were displaced by the flood, and a multitude of community organizations helped them in the following days. After a repair and an inspection on Tuesday, apartment officials say they hope residents can move back in next week. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

From there, some found places to stay for the night with friends or family. Reil called hotels and motels looking for rooms for the residents, but there were not many rooms available. Around nine people stayed at the Adult Center. They were given cots and blankets for beds, and village Mayor Paul Maroun said the director of the state Office for People With Developmental Disabilities Sunmount facility donated pillows.

“It was tough sleeping on the cots,” displaced apartment resident Bob Mathers said.

No one really wanted to sleep much, anyway, he added.

Steffan said under a dozen people were staying at the Aaron Maddox Hall Adult Center on Tuesday morning.

“They’re in pretty good spirits, beside the fact that some of them got out with just the clothes on their backs,” Steffan said.

Seen here are cots slept on by people displace by flooding in the Donald E. Smith Apartments building in Tupper Lake. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Some residents came out with wet socks, he said, and were given dry socks.

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Community effort

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Steffan said Franklin County Office of Aging’s Meals on Wheels program brought over food. The Tupper Lake Food Pantry in the Aaron Maddox Hall provided breakfast. He said the owner of the apartments brought in pizza. Maroun said the town brought coffee and doughnuts.

On Tuesday afternoon, town Councilwoman Tracy Luton brought in pork and other food from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post to prepare for dinner.

The Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department, Tupper Lake Police Department and Tupper Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad helped get people out and to the Adult Center.

The Adirondack Medical Center hospital in Saranac Lake offered its services. Reil said there were no medical problems, but their concern and offer for help was appreciated.

Reil said everyone did a “phenomenal job.”

“I can’t say enough about how good this community came together,” she said. “This community is excellent when something disastrous happens. … This community should be proud of themselves.”

Reil said her maintenance manager Jon Depuy has been great through all the work, too.

“The whole community’s pitching in,” Maroun said. “The whole community’s working together to make life the best we can. Everybody’s safe right now. Everybody’s out, not in cold weather.”

“Your fire department, EMS, Cops and anyone helping evacuate did a fantastic job and quickly,” Patricia Breault wrote on the TLVFD Facebook page. “You all are heroes in my book. You go above and beyond. GREAT JOB to ALL who HELPED.”

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Residents taking shelter

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Karen Mackercher said her apartment was “full of water.” Sitting at the Adult Center, she said she lives on the second floor and the water came in through her walls. She used all her blankets, towels and new chair covers to soak up the water before she left.

She came back for her cat, which was staying at a friend’s house on Tuesday.

She had just moved back into her apartment on Friday after spending the past couple months at an accessible unit since August.

Mackercher hadn’t had time to install shelves yet, so many of her belongings were sitting on the floor, including her laptop, groceries and sewing machine. She was gradually remembering things that were still on the floor.

It was hard for her to think about the personal items left in her apartment, her dresses that reached the floor or a cabinet from Poland that was a gift from a friend.

She was worried about her downstairs neighbor Tom on the first floor. His apartment got flooded bad.

“All of us in the building are on fixed incomes,” Mackercher said. “If we have to start replacing stuff, it’s going to be hard.”

She began crying as she spoke about the things she may have lost in the water at a table in the Adult Center.

Mathers consoled his neighbor.

“We’ll help. I’m here,” he said. “I’m all dry so I’ve got a lot of effort I can put into your place.”

Mathers didn’t really have any water damage in his apartment, so he expected to back get in soon.

“Karen is the mother of the building,” he said.

“That’s what they call me,” Mackercher said.

When the building was being remodeled unit-by-unit, she cooked three meals a day for the people whose units were being worked on. She also cooked for the construction workers. Mackercher often cooks themed dinners for events in the building.

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Repairs needed

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Reil said ServiceMaster was at the apartments on Tuesday for water remediation.

Light fixtures had filled with water, and the drop-tile ceilings had collapsed or crumbled under the weight of the water.

Iannone said he pulled the broken pipe out, cut it, installed a new coupling and replaced it.

One gap in insulation could let in enough cold air to freeze a fitting, he said. Then, when that fitting thaws out, it swells and cracks. The fitting that broke at the apartments cracked cleanly in half right down the “T.”

“Ice is just an amazing force,” Iannone said.

Every winter, he said he’s running around as fittings freeze and break. It’s “all hands on deck,” he said. He had been at another site in Syracuse at the time and drove up for the job.

The break wasn’t caused by negligence, he said. At around 1 p.m. he had finished the replacement.

After the pipe was fixed, Village Code Enforcement Officer Pete Edwards could inspect apartments to make sure they are safe and up to code again before residents move back in.

Maroun said the apartment had just recently been remodeled. Reil said they’ll have to do more renovations now.

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