On October 5, a quiet night at the Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L) was interrupted by a sprinkler pipe bursting on the second floor.

Theo Robinson ’29 was studying in the Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching when the pipe burst.

“I heard this crazy noise and then [saw] a huge gathering of people by the front lobby,” Robinson said. “There were probably like 30 people or so, and they were all staring up at the pipe…. It was spraying some sort of gas or water vapor.”

The leak, which began just before 8 p.m., rushed down from the second floor balcony and sprayed onto the first floor entrance.

Interim Director of the College Library Kat Stefko said the burst made an alarming noise.

“It was a pen hole leak in the sprinkler pipe that presented in a very unusual way,” Stefko said. “It was quite dramatic [and was] accompanied [by] a sound that was like a freight train coming through the library.”

Students were ushered out of the building before Evening User Services Supervisor Greg Stowe and Evening User Services Assistant Lily Cote-Powell called the Office of Safety and Security.

“Security dispatched [Facilities Management and] Facilities ended up having to call in our sprinkler technician,” Stefko explained. “Because [if] it’s a sprinkler head or a sprinkler pipe, we use a third party vendor for repair.”

Associate Vice President for Facilities and Capital Projects Jeff Tuttle explained the response process in an email to the Orient.

“When a leak is discovered, we search out the source and that is sometimes not as easy as it may sound,” Tuttle wrote. “We will then isolate the leak to mitigate damages and start the clean-up.”

Stefko said the burst was caused by the pressure in the sprinklers.

“The sprinkler system was installed in this building [around] … 2000,” Stefko said. “There’s pressure in the individual sprinkler heads…. That means that each of those has quite a bit of pressure in it…. The pressure from the compressor had built up to try and keep the fire sprinkler pressurized, which meant that water was spraying out as opposed to dripping out of the hole.”

Tuttle detailed the repair process in his email.

“The pipe was repaired with a semi-permanent patch, and the entire section of the pipe will be replaced during one of the upcoming breaks to lessen the chance of this happening again,” Tuttle wrote.

Students were able to return to H-L the next day. Robinson reported a significant interruption to his studying but was glad for the break.

“This is pretty exciting,” Robinson said. “This is the most exciting thing that’s happened all week.”