Burst water pipe shuts down transitional housing shelter run by Catholic Social Services
Dec. 26—SCRANTON — A sprinkler pipe burst Monday night causing water damage to several floors and forcing Catholic Social Services officials to find alternative housing for 15 residents of its St. James Manor transitional shelter.
The building, which also houses St. Anthony's Haven overnight emergency shelter, had to turn away 24 people who were scheduled to stay Monday, said Joe Mahoney, CEO for Catholic Social Services.
Scranton firefighters were called to the building at 600 Wyoming Ave. just before 5 p.m. They found heavy water flowing from a burst pipe on the first floor, said Assistant Fire Chief Jeff White. The water penetrated the ground and bottom floors, which had about 2 feet of water, he said.
City building inspectors evaluated the situation and determined it was not safe, Mahoney said.
"That's what scares you with water," Mahoney said. "You don't know what kind of damage it might have caused. It might be electrical, it might be structural."
Mahoney said some residents are staying with family or friends, while others were going to the code blue shelter at Weston Field House, which is scheduled to remain open until Wednesday.
It was not clear how long the building will be shut down, he said."We will meet in the morning to assess how fast we can get back in," he said.
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