A broken washer hose in the third-floor laundry room caused water damage to every floor, including the basement, of an unoccupied Washington State University fraternity house Monday in Pullman, according to a Pullman Fire Department news release.
The release said sensors in a fire detection system triggered an alarm around 4:30 a.m. Monday that brought firefighters to the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house on Northeast Linden Street. When crews entered the structure, they encountered water on the lower floors and discovered the source of the leak in the laundry room.
Incident Commander Lt. Andrew Chiavaras said in the release the water had been flowing for a day or two on the third floor before the alarm was triggered when part of a ceiling collapsed in the basement and activated a smoke detector.
A Pullman building inspector went through the building and determined there was no structural damage, the release said. Property managers will need to bring in cleaning crews and then contractors will be able to repair what was damaged from the water. After repairs are made, the fraternity house, which was empty during summer break, can be occupied again when students return in the fall.
Firefighters said in the release the fraternity had changed their lock system but had not updated their keys, which caused a delay in entering the building.
