Calgary restaurant owners forced to shut both locations after pipe bursts from warming weather

When Jo Lowden went into the Pig & Duke's 12th Avenue S.W. location to do payroll and inventory this week, she heard a gush of water and then a few drips. 

It was the sound of one of two Calgary pubs she co-owns flooding. The day before, the Pig & Duke's other location on Fourth Avenue S.W. also flooded.

Both incidents were caused by three separate unrelated pipe breaks in the apartment buildings above.Lowden says she has about 65 staff members out of jobs as the pubs must temporarily close for clean-up and assessment.

"That's the hardest impact. The fact that it's our business, our livelihood," Lowden said.

"They need a roof over their head, they need food on the table."

The employees of Pig & Duke Pub were among many Calgarians who didn't necessarily rejoice over the sudden warm temperatures when the weather shifted from about –30 C last week to a high of 8 C on Monday.

It's caused some fast melting that landlords and tenants might not have been prepared for.

Carol Henke, public information officer with the Calgary Fire Department, said that from Sunday night into Monday morning, the service responded to 50 flood-related calls.

When pipes freeze, sometimes a rupture will be known right away, she explained. But in a lot of other situations, the ice acts like a plug and it isn't until the ice melts that the flooding occurs.

Henke added that burst pipes are especially likely when an apartment is vacant and the heat is turned off.

In a cold building with no one using the faucets, the water is left sitting in the pipes, which leaves the pipes more prone to freezing, she said.

If people plan on going on holidays during a potential cold snap, Henke recommends either shutting the water off or keeping the heat on in your home.

Anju, a restaurant on 17th Avenue S.W., has also been shut down indefinitely as a result of extensive damage from flooding, according to a social media post.

Meanwhile, Shikiji Japanese Noodles & Sushi, a restaurant on Centre Street N.E., shut its doors until further notice in December, also because of flooding.

Popular Inglewood restaurant Deane House became off-limits after a flood swept through the interior of the 113-year-old heritage building in September. According to its social media accounts, the joint plans to re-open on Friday.