Homeowners dealing with frozen, bursting pipes after storm

KENT, Wash. - As freezing rain hit the Pacific Northwest on Friday, homeowners are now dealing with frozen or burst pipes as a result.

"That problem is going to stick around," said Pat Pawlak, public information officer at Puget Sound Fire. "The ice will go away, but then we’re going to have these issues with broken water pipes." 

Puget Sound Fire says they brought on extra staff to help with the increase in calls they had on Friday and are expected to have on Saturday. 

"I think the calls for the broken pipes are going to start increasing as the temperatures warm up," Pawlak said. "It looks like a lot of rain coming in and so then we have to worry about, you know, the flooding issues and things like that." 

Bill Cahill, the owner of Beacon Plumbing, says this has been one of the worst years for bursting pipes due to the sheet of ice that formed overnight. 

"It’s been a tough day, and the reason it’s been a tough day is because we’ve had a lot of snow," Cahill said. "So now we’re not working on snow, we’re working on ice and it’s very dangerous."

Beacon Plumbing has received hundreds of calls throughout this week, with Friday being the busiest day for plumbing service throughout the city of Kent.

"We're trying to do our job with the community, getting out to them and fixing a lot of burst pipes," Cahill said. "This is when we kind of pay back to the community by getting the water back on, getting their furnaces up and going and making things happen that’s going to help them over the Christmas holiday week."

Beacon Plumbing says it is critical to know where to shut off your valve, which can prevent major water damage from happening to a home. Beacon Plumbing will continue to work hard this holiday weekend to help all those needing help with their plumbing-- they serve the communities 24/7.