Experts looking for cause of school flood

Glacier High School was still a little soggy Wednesday as crews worked to dry rooms that were soaked Saturday when a pipe burst and flooded a portion of the building.

While officials have determined the source of the flood — a 1 1/4-inch fire-suppression pipe burst at a joint, according to Principal Callie Langohr — they have not yet determined how plumbing could fail in a 4-year-old building.

“At this point in the process, no conclusion has been drawn as to the reason for the failure,” Langohr said. “We know there was a frozen pipe, but we don’t have all the other circumstances leading up to that fully investigated.”

Temperatures had reached 9 below zero Saturday morning, according to the National Weather Service. By 1:40 p.m., when the flood began, the mercury had climbed to 7 degrees.

An independent claims adjuster has been in the school, along with CTA Architects and Swank Enterprises, the companies that designed and built Glacier, respectively, to determine how much damage occurred and who will be responsible for paying for it.

“The reason we have CTA and Swank is because it’s a newer building. The restoration company and the adjuster feel that the people who would have the most knowledge — this is not about assigning blame — but the people who know the school best are the people who designed and built it,” Superintendent Darlene Schottle said.

The claims adjuster’s primary concern is finding a price tag for the damage the water caused.

Officials have estimated that when the pipe burst Saturday afternoon, about 3,500 gallons of water cascaded out in about 15 minutes.

The flood started on the second floor, affecting several international language, English, math, social studies and health enhancement classrooms. Water also seeped into first-floor rooms: the special education pod, main office, administrative offices and conference room.

Ceiling tiles, cabinets, walls, carpet, computers, televisions, interactive whiteboards and other materials were damaged. Staff and students have been relocated to other rooms in the building.

The claims adjuster will ask various people and companies how much they think repairs and replacements will cost and compare it to his own estimate. He already has said the damage could have been much worse, Schottle said.

“A significant number of staff members were in the building immediately,” she said, adding that maintenance and custodial staff, as well as some teachers, were in the school within an hour of the flood. Kalispell firefighters also were there to shut off the water flow and help minimize damage.

Schottle said she expected to learn the cost of the damage within a week.

The adjuster also will help determine who, if anyone, is at fault for the flood.

“People have said, ‘Why aren’t you assigning blame?’ Because we can’t,” she said. “If something happens in your home, you call the insurance company and they determine whether you did something wrong or the contractor did something wrong.”

The adjuster will consider issues such as the type of fire suppression system Glacier uses and how well-insulated the building is, she said.

Glacier has two types of fire suppression systems, according to Jason Betterley, the district’s systems engineer. The chip room that houses the school’s biomass boiler uses a glycol system, which contains both water and an antifreeze agent.

The chip room is the only area in the school that is frequently open to the outside elements, Betterley said.

Sprinklers in the rest of the building, including the portion that flooded, use only water, which comes from the city of Kalispell’s water distribution system, he said.

Both systems are inspected annually by Fire Control Sprinkler Systems Inc., a Columbia Falls-based company certified by the state to install and inspect fire sprinkler systems, Betterley said. Glacier’s last inspection took place Aug. 18, 2010, he said.

The insurance adjuster and other professionals are checking similar fire suppression lines in the school to make sure they are intact, Langohr said.

Even as the damage is assessed, a crew headed by Allied 24/7 Restoration has been working to dry the building. School officials hope the “dry out” phase will be wrapped up today so restoration can begin.

The school originally had hoped its walls and carpets would be 98 percent dry by Wednesday. When that didn’t happen, Glacier employed “additional aggressive strategies,” Langohr said in an update Tuesday evening.

Crews removed 3 inches of wall base and insulation in some areas to continue drying the walls. Some drywall and insulation will be replaced.

School officials hope the rooms’ final cleanup and checks will take place starting March 21.

“When students return from spring break, our goal is that everything is back to regular operations,” Langohr said. “I believe we will meet or beat this timeline.”

Glacier High School opened in fall 2007. The 242,664-square-foot building in north Kalispell was built for $37.3 million.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.