Boston Skyscraper Evacuated After Water Leak

11-18-2011

A 38-storey high-rise building in the heart of Boston had to be completely evacuated yesterday, because of a major water leak. The Sixty State Street building is home to numerous companies and thousands of employees. The fire service had to be called to deal with the problem, and the companies that have been disrupted have yet to be told when they will be allowed to return to the building.

According to the Boston Herald, the leak began when a condenser line on the second floor ruptured, flooding the lower floors and the basement, which contained the main electrical systems for the building. The fire service was called, and they decided the best course of action was to shut down the entire building and turn off the electricity for safety reasons.

Thor Kakar, the I.T. manager of WilmerHale, a law company based in the building, spoke of his frustration: “Basically, we’re not able to work, at our office space anyway. With the speed in which we had to evacuate today, we weren’t able to leave with a lot of the stuff we need.” The law firm had to resort to setting up temporary office space in the nearby Millennium Hotel, to allow attorneys to continue working on important cases.

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