Water Pipe Bursts in Wigg

Students in the C-entry of Wigglesworth Hall had their evenings rudely interrupted this week by a water pipe explosion on the third floor.

Students said that a pipe in their dorm burst on Tuesday, sending a stream of water shooting out into the corridor.

"I was just sitting in my room listening to music when one of my roommates walks in the door, and a cloud of hot steam comes in with him," said Srikanth A. Reddy '95, a resident on the entry's top floor.

According to Reddy, the exploded pipe was attached to the custodians' utility sink in a closet on the third floor.

"The scalding hot water was pouring down the staircase and through the floors," Reddy said. "That generated a lot of hot steam, which in turn set off the fire alarm."

But Thomas Wu, who is the proctor for Wigglesworth B and C-entries, said the alarm was only a coincidence. It was scheduled to go off at 8:30 p.m. that evening, he explained. Wu said he had not heard that a pipe had burst.

According to residents, this is not the first plumbing problem to plague Wigglesworth Hall this year.

Reddy said that all the sinks on the third floor were clogged for a few days last week. And Erica H. Dixon '95, who lives next door in Wigglesworth D, said that their top floor has had similar problems.

"The plumbers told us that all the plumbing in Wigglesworth needs to be replaced, but that they can't do it without authorization," Dixon said.

Kathleen Bray-Stazinski, the Yard superintendent, said yesterday that she had not yet received reports from maintenance regarding the explosion.

Bray-Stazinski said that she had heard speculation that an air expeller caused the explosion, but that "nothing has been confirmed."