COLCHESTER — Thirty-six people living at Motel 6 in Colchester through the state’s general assistance housing program were displaced Wednesday night when a broken sprinkler pipe caused water damage throughout the building, officials said.
The 33 adults and three children have all been rehoused at other Colchester hotels, said Tricia Tyo, deputy commissioner of the state Department for Children and Families’ Economic Services Division.
The state has enough rooms available in the general assistance housing program to house those people for the next two weeks, Tyo said.
After that, “we hope to be able to extend them either where they are or at other area hotels if we need to,” she said.
But officials remain concerned about the program’s capacity, Tyo said, especially as hotels start booking up ahead of the holiday weekends in January and February.
Officials also hope those who want to will be able to move back into Motel 6, though it’s unclear exactly how long it will be before the building is able to reopen.
“I would say it’ll be weeks, if not months, before they’re back in there,” said Stephen Bourgeois, Colchester fire chief.
Bourgeois said the building on South Park Drive became uninhabitable after a pipe that feeds the sprinkler system broke in the ceiling above the third floor. Water came down throughout the building, he said, leaving 2 inches of water on the first floor.
The building’s power had to be cut off, Bourgeois said. No one was injured.
Cleanup crews were heading in and out of the hotel Thursday evening. A person at the door referred VTDigger to the hotel’s manager, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The 36 people at Motel 6 through the general assistance program were living in 28 rooms. In all, officials said, people were evacuated from 66 rooms at the hotel.
Officials said temporary housing was secured for all the registered guests.
Tyo said people were not immediately able to go back into the hotel to get their belongings. She expected that process to begin Friday or over the weekend.
