Digital Bulletin

05:53 PM EST on Tuesday, February 28, 2006

Journal staff reports

PROVIDENCE -- A break in a 16-inch high-pressure fire line was the source of water that flooded parts of Cathedral Square and four nearby buildings this morning.

The Water Supply Board said the line, which runs through the city, provides water for emergency services to buildings, such as fire hydrants.

Journal photo / Mary Murphy

Providence Water Supply employees uses metal detectors to try to find the shut-off for the water main that broke early this morning above Cathedral Square in Providence, flooding the street and some nearby building.

The water began pouring from the line before 4 a.m. today, and continued for several hours. It flowed into Cathedral Square, and flooded parts of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence's Chancery building, Grace Church Apartments, Cathedral Square Apartments and Regency Plaza apartments. Officials were also forced to close a section of Washington Street.

Much of the water was pumped away, and sand was spread. Only one fire hydrant was out of service as a result of the break, and others nearby are enough to cover the area, according to the Water Supply Board.

Firefighters started pumping water at 4 a.m. from the Chancery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence, which is next to the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul.

Water 5 inches deep collected in the plaza in front of the cathedral, while about water about 3 inches deep had flowed into the basement of the Chancery.

At the nearby Grace Church apartments, the lobby was flooded with 3 to 4 inches of water, while about nine of the building's 100 units took on a small amount of water.

Just one resident was forced to move from her apartment, but she was able to stay with a relative next door.

Workers for a property management company in an office on the ground floor of the nearby Cathedral Square Apartments had placed sandbags in front of the doorway and were clearing away water.

The company manages the Cathedral Square Apartments and properties in other parts of the country. Workers were especially concerned about protecting computer servers and other network equipment necessary for managing all of the properties.

-- Journal staff photographer Mary Murphy and staff writer Gregory Smith