Water leaks cause heavy damage to Hanscom facilities

  • Published
  • By J.C. Corcoran
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Hanscom AFB --  The old adage of "when it rains it pours," seems to apply as Hanscom recovers from water leaks that resulted in damage to three facilities.

In building 1530, damage was confined to the Information, Tickets and Travel portion of the building.

The leak was discovered as employees reported to work Jan. 26.

Damage estimates to equipment and loss of inventory stock are expected to be in the thousands, however an exact amount won't be known until a full inventory of equipment and merchandise is taken.

The damage from the leak forced the ITT Office to move temporarily to the base library while cleanup was conducted. ITT personnel have now moved back to their main office with operations and services continuing on a reduced basis.

"Although we're operating with a limited capacity for sales and service, we are still open," said Paul Hartigan, 66th Services Squadron community support flight chief.

"We'll be conducting a full inventory to determine just how much of a loss we've taken," Mr. Hartigan said.

The water leak at Hanscom Lanes appears to have occurred sometime on Jan. 28.
Base civil engineers said that it appears piping burst in five places bringing down ceiling tiles in the restrooms and hallway of the old racquetball court area of the building.

In addition to the ceiling tiles, damage to the bowling center seems to be confined to the manager's office and the bowlers' "pit" areas affecting floor tiles and the carpeting.

"It does not appear that the water reached the lanes or bowling equipment, and service at the 13th Frame Diner was not impacted," said Paul Peters, Hanscom Lanes manager.

The bowling center was forced to close on Jan. 22 suspending league bowling for one night, but has since resumed normal services.

The third instance of water damage occurred in building 1508 in the conference room of the 66th Mission Support Group Freedom of Information Office and occurred sometime over the weekend of Jan. 26 when the facility was unoccupied.

Initial reports indicate that approximately one to two inches of water covered the floors in both the FOIA offices and multi-media areas of the building.

Damages were mainly confined to the tile floors and carpeting. Some equipment damage was also reported.

As in the other two instances, a full assessment is being conducted to determine the exact extent of the damage.

While a review of the exact causes in each of the three instances is being conducted, base officials urge all building occupants to be mindful of steps they can take to prevent future similar instances.

"We need everyone to be watchful during this time of the year," said Col. Robert Boyles, 66 MSG commander.

"In many buildings the heat is up due to the cold weather and folks have a tendency to open windows to get some fresh air.

We need everyone's help to ensure that all windows are closed at the end of the duty day to prevent the possibility of pipes freezing during the evening hours," he said.

Anyone noticing a possible water leak should immediately call the Del-Jen, Inc. emergency desk at (781) 377-3383, the desk remains open 24-hours per day.