Broken Pipes Cause Problems All Over Metro Area

LAKEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - Water damage from frozen pipes is causing headaches for homeowners. It's also forcing churches to cancel services and creating big clean-up issues for schools.

No matter big or small, the leaks can cause some big problems.

Sean O'Hara with West Metro Fire said they responded to an alarm at O'Connell Middle School and were expecting to find a fire. Instead they found the school flooded with water.

"We weren't expecting to have water here. It was 4 to 5 inches of standing water," O'Hara said. "It was a little bit of a surprise for sure."

Water filled up the whole school -- literally thousands of gallons of water. Now carpet, drywall and even the window sills are damaged.

"It's going to be a immense amount of damage," O'Hara said. "I'm sure it's happening all over the city."

David Bright is a master plumber for Applewood Plumbing. He said "busy" might be an understatement.

"It's been crazy," Bright said. "We've had a flood of calls over the last couple of days; people that have had to be rescheduled because we just can't get to all the calls."

Bright said if homeowners notice a leak, make a bee-line to the main water valve and turn it off.

"You can avoid a small disaster becoming a large disaster," he said. "They can get all the way into the 10s of thousands depending on the severity of the damage."

Next should be two calls -- one to a plumber and the other to the insurance agent.