There is both good and bad news with the weather warm-up. Good news is the temperature will be rising throughout the day, the bad news is there could be an uptick in pipes bursting around the state.
Experts say the day after a deep freeze is typically the worst time for pipes to burst and we are already seeing it.
In the overnight hours, calls coming in to the Naugatuck Fire Department for three separate incidents as well as a call for a pipe bursting in Bloomfield. Even the Newington Police Department had an issue around 1:00 a.m. this morning. The fire department was called to assist, fixing the issue and it is now business as usual.
On Monday evening, the AMC movie theater in Plainville had to be evacuated. The fire department was called around 10:00 p.m. for a pipe bursting near the lobby. There were no injuries and no extensive damage to the building.
Pipes burst when the temperature isn't high enough inside and the water freezes. Then, when the heat is turned on or the temperature rises, the water expands. If the pipes are not thawed out correctly, there is no where for the water to go so the pipe expands beyond capacity and it bursts, creating a mess.
"People that ignore their frozen pipes, and don't get them thawed out before they break are the ones with issues," said Adam Boerenko, owner of A.I. Boerenko Plumbing. "Typically, the day that it warms up after a long freeze is the worst day."
Experts say never use a blow torch or commercial heaters to thaw pipes, consider using a regular blow dryer to do the job.