Water-main break closes Morristown school

MORRISTOWN — School ended early Thursday after a water-main break near the lobby flooded hallways.

District Superintendent David J. Glover said the main broke due to age, forcing officials to send students home around 9:30 a.m.

"It looks like it was simple mechanical failure. I'm not sure if it was a broken seal or a joint," he said. "I'm not real familiar with plumbing, but it was basically just a broken pipe."

Morristown Public Works Superintendent Kevin J. Crosby was called in initially, but was unable to address the problem because it was outside of the village DPW's area.

"It was inside the school, so we couldn't do much," Mr. Crosby said. "It was a 3-inch main that broke and it was a decent- size hole so it came out pretty fast. Because it was a main line they had to shut all the water off going in to the school in order to get it to stop."

Mr. Crosby said school staff did a good job of containing the water, which flooded several hallways.

"They noticed it quick and the maintenance staff started mopping up right away," he said.

Mr. Glover said he wasn't present when the incident took place but said he was informed that water flooded the main lobby.

"I'm not sure if it was shooting or spraying but there was enough water that we had to close school," he said. "We couldn't really keep operating without water."

Mr. Glover said the school implemented its emergency go-home procedure and that things went smoothly.

"As far as I know, everything went quite well. The buses were gone by 9:45 a.m., he said. "We had some students who were waiting for rides but we had staff staying with them until they could be picked up."

Mr. Glover expected school to reopen today.

"Luckily, they were able to get in and see what they needed," he said. "So we should be set."