Province
The Promontory, a new building on the UBC campus, was evacuated Friday night because a water pipe burst in an unoccupied top-floor unit. SAM LEUNG — THE PROVINCE
A posh, brand new highrise condominium at the University of B.C. where Premier Gordon Campbell has a suite was evacuated after a water pipe in an unoccupied top-floor suite burst Friday, flooding some floors below.
“The alarm went off and the elevator shut down and the firemen came and escorted us down the stairs,” said an elderly resident who lived relatively high up in the 18-storey building and didn’t want his name published. “It was flooding from the top down. We were wading in water.”
He said the firefighters gave him and his wife only enough time to grab their medications during the suppertime evacuation. The pair spent the night in a hotel and weren’t sure yesterday morning if they would be allowed to return.
“I went out in my wet clothes and all I want to do is go back and get some dry clothes,” he said.
The resident, who said some of the 95 two- and three-bedroom suites in the building are worth $1 million, said Campbell lives in the building, finished this summer, near Thunderbird Stadium.
“I don’t think he was home last night,” he said.
Another resident outside the building yesterday, where a number of water restoration trucks and moving vans were parked, said the premier is his neighbour.
Campbell‘s spokesman said the premier lives in the UBC area but wasn’t home during the flooding. It was unclear if Campbell‘s sub-penthouse suite flooded.
Vancouver Fire Department Capt. Rob Jones-Cook said that campus firefighters responded to the routine call and that the flooding was caused by a broken pipe in an unoccupied top-floor unit that supplies the sprinkler system.
© The Vancouver Province 2005
