A broken pipe on the 18th floor of the Bentall Three tower in downtown Vancouver was discovered after a water leak caused extensive damage to the tower's interior furnishings.
From outside the tower, hundreds of people gathered to watch crews assess the water leak, which was visible from the ground floor. Maintenance teams with dozens of restoration vans could be seen pumping and vacuuming out the water that was pooling on the floors. Of the 32 stories in the building, the first 18 were closed for repairs.
The tower's management said a four-inch pipe on the 18th floor had burst around 3:30 in the morning, flooding the floors below with thousands of gallons of water. After cleaning out the water, the crews were able to get to the pipe and repair the leak safely. Now crews are working diligently to dry out the flooded offices and hallways so workers can return to business as usual. All floors above the 18th floor appear to have been unaffected by the leak.
While some workers were able to access their offices and belongings in the building, most had to wait until crews finished the repairs. Many workers wanted to check on expensive infrastructure such as computer servers or other electrical devices, which could be severely damaged by the flood.
