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Calgary water main breaks flood city streets

Click to play video: 'Thawing pattern causes pipes to burst'
Thawing pattern causes pipes to burst
WATCH ABOVE: While the warm weather is a welcome reprieve from the deep freeze it's causing major problems for pipes. Dozens of residents are without water as crews scramble to repair a major water line break. Jill Croteau reports – Dec 20, 2016

Calgary firefighters were kept busy on Tuesday responding to water main breaks in the city’s north.

The first happened in the area of 8 Avenue and 15 Street N.W., near North Hill Centre, just before 7 a.m.

According to the City of Calgary, a 25-centimetre pipe burst, causing water to gush out onto the road. The flooding caused the street to buckle, leading police to close off the intersection.

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City officials brought in emergency water wagons to serve about 20 homes and eight apartment buildings.

According to the city, repairing a water main break can take a day or two to complete.

The second water main break occurred in the 1300 block of 23 Street N.W. at around 9:30 a.m.

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“We received a call from a neighbour here in Briar Hill that water was coming out of a home,” Carol Henke with the Calgary Fire Department said.

No one was at home when firefighters arrived. Firefighters had to force their way into the house as there was close to a foot of water pooling in the basement.

“It appears that the furnace stopped working for some reason, causing pipes to freeze,” Henke said. “Now that it’s warmed up a little bit those pipes are now leaking substantial water into the home.”

With files from Doug Vaessen

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