About 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 18, the 4" fire water main broke under the utility room floor at Llewellyn Village Apartments. The water was under such pressure that it buckled and broke the 5" thick concrete floor of the utility room. This movement then broke the 2" domestic water main into the same area. The utility room filled with water up to a level of about 4'. Water from the gushing mains also ran out under the building footings.

Aegis Security, which monitors the fire suppression system, took the alarm signal from the property and immediately notified authorities.

Excellent Response from Authorities

Chief Webber, the Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department, and Gary Garrett from the Middleburg Water Department all arrived at the scene immediately. The Fire Department forced open the door of the utility room to allow water to drain out. Seeing that the water had reached a level close to a bank of electric meters, the Fire Department shut off the electricity to the building. The Fire Department also evacuated the building until the extent of damage and the risk to tenants could be assessed. This evacuation was done with excellent efficiency and compassion by the Fire Department.

Gary Garrett from the Town Water Department first turned off the main water valves to the entire neighborhood and then found and turned off both water lines to the building.

Based on the lack of a fire suppression system, the possibility of a damaged electrical system, and the possibility of structural damage to the building footings, the County Fire Marshal condemned the building—not allowing any further occupancy until he judged the building to be safe. The Fire Department called for assistance from the Red Cross. The Red Cross Disaster Team arrived within an hour and provided water and snacks to the remaining tenants who had not gone to stay with friends or relatives. After a brief time to organize transportation, the Red Cross took a "convoy" of cars with seven families needing shelter, to their offices in Leesburg where the group was processed and then moved to rooms at the Best Western motel in Leesburg. The Red Cross paid for the rooms and provided each family with a $50 money card for expenses. The Windy Hill Foundation has reimbursed the Red Cross for these expenses.

Lisa Williams, resident Loudoun County Family Services Coordinator at Llewellyn Village Apartments, called on all of these families while there were in Leesburg to make sure that they were being adequately cared for.

At the request of Steve Webber, who was concerned for the safety and security of the empty building, a 24-hour "fire watch" was instituted. With excellent cooperation from the Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department, the Foundation hired off-duty firemen to provide this fire watch. Chief Webber provided a police cruiser that was parked at the entrance to the parking lot to discourage any unwanted entry and the Middleburg Police made regular visits throughout the night to support this fire watch.

Starting Repairs

With help from the Windy Hill Development Company, a qualified structural/geo-technical engineer was on site by 4:30 PM Saturday afternoon. After determining that there did not appear to be structural damage to the building, the Fire Marshal was notified and he allowed repairs on the building to begin. By 5 PM, Joey Snider, of Snyder Plumbing, provided two plumbers who, with a jackhammer, began removing concrete from the utility room floor to expose the damage plumbing so that repairs could begin. The Snyder team worked long into Saturday night and began work again early on Sunday.

Cause of the Failure

The exact cause of this accident remains unclear. All of the original plumbing in question meets Loudoun County Building Code, was inspected and approved by the County Plumbing Inspector and was inspected and approved by the County Fire Marshal at the time of construction of Llewellyn Village Apartments in 1995. This plumbing has performed properly for roughly 12 years.

From the damage done to the utility room floor, it is clear that there is great pressure in the two lines under the utility room floor. Llewellyn Village Apartments sits at the bottom of a small hill and on that hill sits one of the Town's water towers. In this situation, the pipes coming into the apartment building experience some of the highest water pressure in town. In short, any one or more of four causes could have contributed to this accident: joint failure, pipe failure, abnormally high constant pressure, or instantaneous water hammer.

A Busy Monday

While the engineering team and plumbers were busy redesigning the system Monday morning, George Lengauer, head of the Foundation's Family Development Committee, went to the County building to secure the necessary building permits for the repairs. With special assistance from all concerned, George walked through the entire County permitting process in under two hours.

Special Thanks and Commendations

Special Thanks and Commendations go to TM Associates (Valeria Rhodes, Willy Collins, Dave Kimelblatt, and Lester Severe); Middleburg Volunteer Fire Department; Middleburg Water Department (Gary Garrett); Middleburg Police Department (Chief Steve Webber); American Red Cross Disaster Team (Loudoun Chapter); Snider Plumbing; Patriot Development Company; Geo-Design (Mohammad Abu-Kassim); Bury Partners (Darin Mullen); Loudoun County Fire Marshal (Roger Wright); Loudoun County Building and Development Office (Vicki Tipling—Fire Protection Plan Review).

Joe Boling, President of the Windy Hill Foundation said, "It is both reassuring and humbling to see how well things can still work in America when we all pull together as neighbors."