The first day of the new year at Yarmouth Town Hall was spent cleaning up after an old pipe.
Saturday night, firefighters traded hoses for brooms after a sprinkler pipe burst in the ceiling of the attic.
"The attic is heated so I don’t know how it happened, but it was so cold," said town facilities manager Richard Court.
In his hands he held a 3-inch cast iron coupling that split in the cold.
"I’ve been here 13 years and I’ve never seen it happen," said Court.
Most of the damage is in the accessing department.
Computers had to be taken out, the ceiling tiles were removed and the carpet is still damp.
U.S. & World
The humming of fans echoed through the empty halls to the basement.
Water went all the way to the hearing room on the bottom floor.
"You know it was shocking," said Chris Dwelley, assistant town administrator. "It's not something you expect. It's not something you want to see."
Dwelley said some computers were destroyed, but the important files were backed up.
He calls the damage "superficial."
"(For) six or seven staff members, we're going to set up some temporary stations for them elsewhere in the building," said Dwelley.
The Town Hall will be back open on Tuesday.
On Yarmouth's Facebook page, a post reads they "will not be able to process any in-person transactions for Old Kings Highway, Board of Appeals, or Conservation until Wednesday, January 3."
