Flood Sets Off Fire Alarms
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A broken water main at the Los Angeles Times Orange County edition in Costa Mesa set off fire alarms in commercial buildings in the city’s north end Sunday, fire officials said.
A 14-inch pipe that fed the Times’ fire-suppression system burst, damaging the newspaper’s plant on Sunflower Avenue.
The pressure surge that broke the pipe triggered fire alarms elsewhere, starting at 3:48 a.m., Costa Mesa Fire Capt. Ron Cloe said.
“For a few minutes we had every rig in our city running to fire alarms,” he said.
Within an eight-minute period, the Fire Department reported nine alarms, primarily from buildings on Bear Street, Bristol Street and South Coast Drive, Cloe said.
The rupture was near the cafeteria and flooded a large area. No damage estimate had been made Sunday.
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