<font color="blue">Climb from deep freeze reveals busted water pipes</font>

<font size="3">Kids' quick thinking averts tragedy near Santo</font>

<b>By Christin Coyne</b><br><a href="mailto:ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com">ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com</a>

Several consecutive days and nights of icy temperatures caused havoc with pipes around Mineral Wells, according to the public works department and local plumbers.

They received around 33 calls for meters to be turned off for private leaks and repaired three lines over the weekend, Public Works Director Bobby Baker said.

That’s not counting any homes or businesses that had leaks but were able to contain them with an isolation valve, Baker said.

Alan Smith, a plumber with Neeto Inc., said they have been flooded with calls since last Tuesday, when the cold snap first hit.

Smith said they have been out working every day and are booked up through Wednesday or Thursday.

“Busted water lines under older houses with exposed lines [is the main issue they are seeing],” Smith said.

This is the worst they’ve seen in about a decade, according to Smith.

“Anything that’s gonna break did,” Mark Lynch, owner of B&B; Plumbing said. He said he was fixing many hot water heaters, as well as exposed pipes.

He said he worked until 9:30 p.m. Saturday and all day Sunday.

“The busiest time was probably Saturday,” Baker said. “It started getting warm and thawing out pipes in houses.”

Despite the high volume of calls and the three water line breaks, they were able to handle everything, Baker said.

A crew repaired a broken water line on the east side of the intersection at U.S. Highway 180 East and Washington Street Friday afternoon when two bell sections pulled apart, Baker said.

They also repaired water main breaks in the 1800 block of S.E. 4th Avenue and in the 400 block of S.W. 8th Street over the weekend, according to Baker.

“It was probably a combination of old cast iron pipe and the temperature the water got down to,” Baker said about the reasons for the problems.

Among many other breaks, two water lines at Ram Stadium broke over the weekend, as well.

James Bradford, head of facility maintenance for Mineral Wells ISD, said the lines were in the maintenance deck.

The lines were wrapped in insulation but were in an area that is not heated, according to Bradford.

All the first floor rooms flooded, according to Bradford, but “there’s nothing there to hurt.”

“It wasn’t bad at all,” Bradford said. “Fortunately, there’s nothing but concrete and block.”

The leaks had already been repaired by Monday afternoon, according to Bradford.

Two young children from Santo also had an exciting, frozen water experience they won’t soon forget.

Greg Taylor of Santo said his children were playing on their iced-over stock pond Saturday afternoon when his 10-year-old son broke through and landed waist-deep in 3 feet of freezing water.

The kids' quick thinking and a little luck soon got them out of the icy jam, though.

Eight-year-old Abigail Taylor fell and landed on her backside near him, gaining more surface area for the rescue.

“He grabbed her foot and a tree limb” to pull out of the waist deep water, according to Taylor.

“They ran in [to the house] quite cold,” Taylor said.

“I’m proud of my rescue heroes daughter,” Taylor said.

Taylor, a volunteer fire fighter, used the experience to give his children a lesson on ice.

“That just shows it happens to everybody,” Taylor said.

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