Hundreds of Calgarians evacuated from condo building after water leak

Hundreds of Calgarians may be out of their homes for Christmas after a major water leak at a condo building in the city’s southeast Wednesday morning.

Residents were forced out into the cold overnight when the sprinkler system went off and began flooding the building.

Carol Henke with Calgary Fire says emergency crews were called to Legacy Boulevard just after 2 a.m.

“The alarm in the building was triggered because there was water flow in the system, and that triggers the fire alarm,” she explained.

“When fire crews arrived, there was water flowing and we had to evacuate 200 to 300 people from the building.”

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Henke says there was major damage and there’s no word on how many residents will be able to return to their homes.

“There’s significant water damage to the building. Some reports were saying there was water coming through light fixtures and that sort of thing. So there’s a lot of clean-up to be done.”

She says they see pipes burst in buildings like this every year, with the freezing and thawing, but it’s not known yet whether this incident was due to no heat getting to an area in the pipe or if they weren’t insulated.

Residents displaced for the foreseeable future

“We were told to pretty much pack our things and find a new place to live,” said one resident.

As the damage is still being assessed, it isn’t clear just how long those who live at the condominium will be displaced.

“You can see watermarks in the ceiling and the walls,” explained resident Leslie Horley. “So, they told us that the ceiling and the walls would have to come down.”

With multiple false alarms for the building in recent months, residents didn’t think it was serious until they started to see and hear water rushing down the walls.

A lawyer for the condo board says the sprinkler caused significant damage to over 100 units.

“There is not a single part of the ceiling that doesn’t have water damage on it in some place, walls as well.”

Mike Kwiatkowski, a partner at McLeod Law says, at this time, there is no timetable for return.

“The damage is extensive and we do not have an estimated time for people to return to their units.”

– With files from CityNews reporter Jasmine Vickaryous