PETERSBURG, Va. -- Dozens of seniors were forced out of their apartment building after a pipe burst in the building Sunday afternoon.
Fire crews were called to the Carriage House Apartments in Old Town Petersburg around 2:30 p.m., according to city spokesperson Jay Ell Alexander.
Officials said that cold temperatures in a stairwell impacted fire sprinkler feed lines. As a result, Alexander said the leak caused major damage to one side of the building, impacting at least four floors, including the basement.
"The only hazards present were the concern of electricity and water together," Alexander said. "Therefore two floors were isolated from electrical hazards."
The city brought in buses to keep displaced residents warm as they waited outside for about four hours.
“I was sitting in there looking at TV,” Roberta Whitehead said. “And all of a sudden, I heard someone knock on my door. And when I went to get up, all of the water would come shooting under the door.”
Alexander said that by 6:20 p.m, all but 18 of the building's 119 residents had been allowed back into their apartments.
