Sprinkler break displaces more than 20 Duluth residents

A sprinkler pipe break has displaced more than 20 people from an apartment building in Duluth’s Goat Hill neighborhood.

The incident in the 1300 block of West 3rd Street was reported just before noon Tuesday. A resident called 911 to report that her ceiling had collapsed, and firefighters discovered the cause to be a broken pipe in the fire sprinkler system.

Residents of the building had evacuated on their own before firefighters arrived.

Firefighters found one additional unit with ceiling damage. Flooding from the broken pipe temporarily displaced all tenants of the building, and water and power were turned off to prevent more damage. Crews removed standing water from impacted units.

The fire department says the management company is assisting tenants until the damage can be repaired. The department estimated damage to amount to $350,000.

St. Louis County records show the 13-unit building was constructed in 1991.