ORLANDO, Fla. – A pipe burst Friday morning at an assisted living facility, flooding dozens of units and forcing the evacuation of its residents.
The Orlando Fire Department said crews responded around 6:15 a.m. and discovered a water leak on the fourth floor of the 15-story building.
During a news conference, the fire department said 24 units were affected “by water or flooded.”
The affected residents are being relocated to various hotels.
“As you can imagine, a 15-story building. There’s a lot of evacuation, and we’re going to have to take our time with elderly residents,” Orlando Fire Chief Charlie Salazar said. “... So the task of evacuating 15 stories isn’t necessarily in and of itself, difficult, but it does take time. And so the most difficult part about that is to make sure that everybody gets down safely."
The public is asked to avoid Delaney Avenue as restoration crews work to fix the pipe.
The fire chief said evacuations are being conducted and the timeline is “indefinite” because the elevator is out of service.
In an update Saturday, the fire department said crews were able to conduct a full evacuation of the building while the elevators were out of service. Temporary shelter was provided by property management to many residents, the fire department said, adding others stayed with family.
It was unknown at the time of this report when the elevators would be back in service.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information as we receive it.