Broken water line forces evacuation of North Versailles apartment building

Brian C. Rittmeyer
Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022 7:37 p.m. | Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022 7:37 p.m.

Go Ad-Free Today!

Joe Napsha | Tribune-Review

The residents of the Brandywine Communities apartment building in North Versailles were forced out of their homes on Christmas Day because of a water main break.

WPXI-TV

About 72 residents of an apartment building on Della Drive in North Versailles were forced out of their homes after a water main break Sunday, Dec. 25, 2022.

Joe Napsha | Tribune-Review

Della Plaza resident Michael Williams stays warm Monday at the North Versailles Community Center, where he spent the night after he and other residents were evacuated when a water main burst on Christmas Day at their apartment complex.

Joe Napsha | Tribune-Review

Merle “Bud” Pusey, assistant emergency management coordinator for North Versailles, said hallways and apartments were flooded on Christmas Day inside the seven-story Della Plaza building when a pipe connected to a fire suppression system burst.

Joe Napsha | Tribune-Review

The residents of the Brandywine Communities apartment building in North Versailles were forced out of their homes on Christmas Day because of a water main break.

Tenants who were forced out of their North Versailles apartment building on Christmas Day because of a water main break that shutoff the building’s electricity were hoping Monday to be able to get into their residences to get needed items even while their building remained inhabitable.

Several residents living in the Brandywine Agency Inc.’s seven-story Della Plaza apartment building on Della Drive off Route 30 said they did not know when they could return to the building, or how long it might take before they could resume living in their apartments.

The North Versailles code enforcement office and North Versailles police on Sunday ordered the building closed and stated in a notice posted on the front door that it will remain closed for an unknown time.

A spokesperson for Brandywine Agency on Monday said the company would not make any comments to the news media.

North Versailles had informed residents to contact the Brandywine Agency in North Versailles for emergency shelter, if they need it, said Merle “Bud” Pusey, emergency management assistant coordinator for North Versailles. About 72 people live in the apartment building, which is about 90% of the apartments occupied, Pusey said.

Seven residents from the apartment building stayed overnight at the North Versailles Community Center, Pusey said, but that warming center would not be available Monday night.

The residents were forced from their apartments when a pipe burst that was connected to a fire suppression system along an exterior wall, Pusey said. That impacted the electrical system, forcing the power to be shut off to the entire building, Pusey said. The pipe burst about 4 p.m.

“The water was flowing down the hallway and under the doors and into apartments,” said Pusey, assistant chief of the West Wilmerding Fire Department.

One of those displaced residents, Michael Williams, said he was at his cousin’s home when he heard that an emergency had occurred at his apartment building.

Williams, who was not permitted inside the building when he arrived, said he was not surprised that a pipe burst in a stairwell.

“The stairwell is not heated. It is the same way (weatherwise) as the outside,” Williams said.