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Water Line Break Threatens Bookstore's Merchandise

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – A string of stores were damaged after a pipe ruptured and sent water gushing into a Scott Township strip mall.

The waterline under a sidewalk that feeds the sprinkler system for several stores ruptured, flooding the stores and damaging merchandise.

As a result of the flooding, the stores had to close.

With a few inches of water in the store, it was an emergency for Bradley's Book Outlet.

Merchandise was stacked on the floor, as well as boxes of products and the carpet was a disaster.

"It's another happy day at the Green Tree Road shopping center," plaza manager Ken Isaacson said.

Isaacson said he received the call about the broken water line around around 5 a.m.

The fire department and John Kicinski with South Side Plumbing were called as well.

"Pretty frantic, that basically they did have a fire line rupture which damaged three stores," Kicinski said. "They must have had very good response because there's a bit of water in all three stores, but it could have been worse."

The book store had the most damage from the broken 6-inch water line.

Sherwin Williams and Rite Aid were impacted too and forced to temporarily close while they cleaned puddles of water from the floor.

All three shops will be without the sprinkler system until repairs are made.

"We will take out the sidewalk," Kicinski said. "Expose the damaged area -- a simple repair is my goal and hopefully reactivate it by the end of the day, if it works properly."

The manager at Bradley's Book Outlet is going to be making the necessary repairs throughout the day today.

They hope to take the closed sign down today and be back open for normal business tomorrow.

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