The frigid weekend caused pipes to freeze and burst all over town, flooding apartment complexes and homes, businesses and government buildings. These flooding calls were part of a record-breaking New Year's shift for local fire crews, when 158 calls of all types came in during the 48-hour tour.
Capt. Mark Johnson responded to the messy, wet flooding calls and saw how the water destroyed documents, electronics and appliances, and other important belongings.
"It's just devastating for people to have these things happen," he said.
Johnson said building owners and managers are required to keep buildings that are equipped with a sprinkler system at a minimum of 40 degrees in order to keep the pipes from freezing and breaking.
Schools affected by flooding were cleaned up and open, or nearly open, on Monday.
At Northern Arizona University, seven buildings ended up seeing flooding: Gabaldon, Mountain View, Pine Ridge Village, Ardrey Auditorium, Eastburn Education, Allen and Chemistry. The flooding at Allen and Chemistry was very minor, and overall damage was minimal, said university spokesman Tom Bauer.
At Sinagua Middle School, where the name literally translates from Spanish to "without water," there was plenty of water -- just not where it was supposed to be.
The main line feeding the school sprinkler system froze, burst and flooded the boiler room area on Saturday. This drowned some electronic components in the heating system, leading to classes being canceled Monday.
Assistant Superintendent Bob Kuhn said replacement parts were on their way up from Tucson and the school will reopen today. The permanent heating system should be running today, but school will resume with large portable heaters in place. Insurance will cover the cost of the emergency.
A pipe also burst Saturday at the mostly vacant Flagstaff Middle School, but Kuhn said the issue there was less severe, with most of the water draining outside.
Bitter cold is expected to continue, but not as severe as it was last weekend. Tonight's low was forecast to hit 1 degree.
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