Water break, cleanup at West Seattle Junction QFC

Seattle Fire Department crews are busy at the Junction QFC, helping with a water cleanup. The photo above is from Mary, who says a pipe broke and gushed water onto part of the store’s floor. Mary says the store is doing a great job dealing with it, and the water is mostly just over by the meat cases.

ADDED 6:14 PM: Christopher Boffoli checked out the situation too, with the photo above and this update:

The QFC was mobbed with people who were shopping up a storm despite the fact that more than half the store was ankle deep in water. One of the employees told me they had a water pipe break. A bunch of people were frantically trying to mop up the water. Meanwhile, the physical therapy office and tanning salon on the lower level of the building were in even deeper water. The grocery store had a few aisles with the deepest water that appeared to be closed temporarily. But otherwise the store is open for business. But if anyone has appointments tomorrow at businesses downstairs they might want to call ahead.

EmmyJane November 23, 2010 (6:02 pm)

We were at QFC when this happened. There was also water coming out of a pipe in the garage and pooling. Poor QFC, they were slammed when we were there.

Alki Resident November 23, 2010 (6:49 pm)

Hope nobody got shocked down in Desert Sun.

Sandra November 23, 2010 (8:27 pm)

This a brand new building!! Weren’t there any plumbing inspections? I’d like to know what company was in charge of the plumbing here…

ad November 23, 2010 (8:49 pm)

Wow, and I thought my day at work was rough…

PJ November 23, 2010 (9:36 pm)

Glad I wasn’t working that day!! >< Sorry teammates!

old timer November 23, 2010 (11:36 pm)

Frozen pipe?
The building has never been this cold.

Keith November 24, 2010 (12:58 am)

Wasn’t there also a water main break nearby on 44th? Wonder if they’re related, and if both incidents are freeze related.

WSB November 24, 2010 (6:44 am)

Keith: The 44th water-main break was in Brace Point, a few miles south, unless there was one that you heard about that we hadn’t reported … TR

knm November 24, 2010 (6:08 am)

Does anyone know if West Seattle Physical Therapy (which resides below part of QFC) was affected? I know they’ve had a water leak problem in the SE corner of that building that they were having a heck of a time getting the building people to address.

Courtney November 24, 2010 (8:23 am)

I am the Front Office Coordinator for West Seattle Physical Therapy below QFC. We want to let all of our patients know that we are open for business as usual. Yes, we were affected by the water but we are functional. We appreciate your business and we are grateful for your understanding as we continue our clean-up efforts.

WSB November 24, 2010 (8:25 am)

thanks, Courtney, we’ll mention that to the FB/Twitter streams too .. TR

David November 24, 2010 (9:13 am)

We were walking down Alaska to the YMCA while it was happening. The fire alarms were buzzing and there were fire engines outside. This makes me think the fire sprinkler system was the source of the water. I suspect the empty and thus unheated commercial space downstairs was the culprit.

deli boy November 24, 2010 (9:36 am)

I’m actually in that second photo above. the one closest to the camera. I’m so sore from that. we all were working hard on that! Oh boy it was like i was in Hawaii or something. We had fun, why cry about it? It was a break from our actual duties. Customers were great. Though all of us (employees and customers) were irritated during the alarms going off in the start of this few hour frenzy. The parking lot under the building has many cracks in the ceiling. Its scary. especially now that water was seeping through them last night.

miws November 24, 2010 (12:27 pm)

Kudos to you, deli boy, for the positive attitude, and kudos to your customers as well.

Having worked in customer service/retail type jobs the last 35 years, I know that sometimes these “disasters” can be a fun change of pace, or they can be pure you know what. A lot of it depends on the customers’ attitudes.

If it’s something that the customers can see, such as your situation, they understand it’s not your fault, and that you’re doing your best, and that some employees that would normally be helping them directly, are having to deal with the emergency.

If the problem cannot be physically seen by the customers, then some of them may get a little cranky, because they don’t understand why the customer service staffing level doesn’t seem to be up to its normal level.

But either way, as in most situations in dealing with the public, the good customers far outweigh the bad ones! :cool:

Mike

Tracie November 24, 2010 (9:27 pm)

I also work at the QFC and have to say the people I work with all great. They all stepped up and did what they had to while taking care of customers..the customers were really understanding too. I love working at this store…

Altamira resident November 24, 2010 (11:11 pm)

I live in the building directly over QFC (Altamira) and had to evacuate for this. We were told that it was a sprinkler in the upper parking garage and the fire department was there for quite awhile. Also, for the record, I have never had any trouble getting management to deal with things although I have noticed the water leaks where Office Max was supposed to go.

deli boy November 25, 2010 (8:43 am)

hi Tracie lol. Altamira resident, yeah we’ve noticed the leaks downstairs in the empty space as well. The people came to check it out and they thought it was leaking from the deli from when we clean the floors every night. so they came and lifted part of the floors. It didn’t fix the problem and they haven’t been back ever since. Also in the parking garage downstairs there are more than enough cracks in the ceiling for my liking. My co-workers car go soaked by some fluid dripping from some of the cracks and it froze over. I hope the building does not fall apart already. lol

Sorry, comment time is over.