Serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis. © James Conner.
West Glacier’s school was damaged over the weekend when a pipe above the kitchen burst, flooding the kitchen, offices, and gymnasium. According to the InterLake’s report, school officials said cold weather was the culprit:
At West Glacier, [principal Corey] Pierce said the burst pipe may have been a result of recent temperatures that plunged as low as 20 below zero.
“Things happen when temperatures get that cold. We have a huge crew from Stat Restoration cleaning up,” Pierce said.
Yes, when it gets that cold, things do happen — things like not turning up the heat over the weekend and perhaps not inspecting the school twice a day to make sure nothing untoward is happening. I suspect someone was trying to save money by turning down the heat during weekends, a classic example of being penny wise and pound foolish.
The other culprit was the school board that approved a building design that didn’t sufficiently protect plumbing from cold weather. The design priorities for school boards are student safety first, maximum square footage second, and do everything on the cheap because otherwise the construction bond won’t pass.
Improvements may follow repairs:
Prince said the school also is looking at relocating the pipe, or other engineering alternatives, to avoid future incidents.
Yes, avoiding future incidents is a good idea. In the meantime, it would also be a good idea if Pierce would stop blaming Old Man Winter and Jack Frost for a preventable mishap, and promise to never again use enfeebled phrases like “things happen.”