RICHMOND, Va. – As the temperature dips, keeping your pipes warm is critical.
"We have no running water and no heat. I can't really do much of anything," said Holly Hudson-Barley, who said the deep freeze caused a cast iron pipe to burst outside of her home."
"This is a really big inconvenience for me. My baby you know….he gets really cold. He's trying to get over a cold right now," Hudson-Barley said.
And it's more than just homeowners feeling the chill. The bitter cold forced the Goddard School on Three Chopt in the Far West End to close early.
Parents like Jamillah Martin rushed to pick up her child right away.
"The pipe burst in the infant room, and they had to take all of the kids out….you know. Everybody was all cold and you know... It was a big frenzy," Martin said.
A frenzy because Martin said water was falling from the ceiling right around nap time.
And whether it's at a school or in your home, fire officials suggests keeping the faucets open and wrapping an electric heating pad around the pipes.
"We do not advocate people using blow torches. It's always a safer way to thaw out properly," Lt. Chris Armstrong said.
Armstrong said using added insulation around those pipes will help.
"In the crawl space you are protected a little bit more. But when it's exposed to the outside temperature, it makes it a lot harder," Armstrong said.
And if you're unable to thaw out those pipes, call a licensed plumber to help.
