EASTHAMPTON — Cold weather kept some businesses and fire departments busy on Sunday, while others expect problems will surface once the weather eventually warms.
Capt. Steven Kennedy of the Easthampton Fire Department said a pipe burst in one of the apartments above the Easthampton Diner restaurant on Union Street early on Sunday. The business was closed on Sunday, but reopened on Monday for business.
“It’s fixed now,” said owner Ahmet Ibic. He said plumbers and electricians had to work much of Sunday to reopen the place, but the unexpected closing did not bother him too much. “It’s good for safety. It’s a loss of business, but only for New Year’s Eve.”
Elsewhere, in Northampton, there were water pipes that burst — one in a mixed-use building on Federal Street and another in a vacant storefront on Main Street in Florence, according to Dept. Fire Chief Stephen Vanasse.
In Amherst, Fire Capt. Chris Bascomb said there were no noteworthy cold-weather incidents, but cautioned that there may be some discovered in the days and weeks ahead.
“I would wait for everyone to come into town to find the flooded basements and things,” he said. Warm weather, he added, will reveal problems in some buildings. “That’s what we usually expect.”
“It’s tough out there, and we’re lucky we haven’t had as much wind as we could have had,” Kennedy, of Easthampton, said.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.