SPOKANE, Wash. – In the early Monday morning hours the Albertsons in Wandermere was flooded when a fire sprinkler pipe broke. It closed the store for several hours, and while the store was able to quickly reopen – it is slated to close for good at the end of February.
The store reopened around 2:00 p.m. and people were able to go in and get their shopping done. It was a different story a few hours before those as there was close to half a foot of standing water in some parts of the store.
While that is a bit of good news, the bad news is the store director said this location is closing for good by end of February.
That did not stop employees at the store though from getting after it when it came to cleaning up that mess.
Virgil Hoeft said it was supposed to be a simple trip to the store.
“Just some bananas. We eat one banana a day,” he said. He would quickly learn though; his snowy drive here would prove to be fruitless – literally.
“The gal had a mop in her hand and she said we’re closed for now because we’ve gotten a broken pipe.”
Hoeft was not the only one. We saw a constant flow of surprised shoppers.
The video, taken by a firefighter on scene, shows how intense the flooding was. Water gushed out of a locked door spilling out onto the street. Now it seems like nothing happened. That speaks to how hard these employees have been working to clean up the mess.
@KREM2 @KREMBrittany water main inside Wandermere Albertsons separates. Causing store to flood. Water gushing out of back door. pic.twitter.com/Vq6JMnsr45
— althepal530 (@althepal530) January 9, 2017
A look at the same door. It looks like nothing happened… Crews hit this fast. pic.twitter.com/Xm5G7TGdOK
— Taylor Viydo (@KREMTaylor) January 9, 2017
The store director said that a snow plow driver first notice the flooding early in the morning. All day, both store employees and outside help were mopping and vacuuming some of the water that close to half a foot high at point they said.
We were not allowed to see the mess inside for ourselves, but again, the store did reopen.
As for damage, some cardboard displays had to be thrown away but overall it was not too bad.
Despite all the effort though, the store director said the store – and another Albertsons on 37th and Grand Blvd – will be closing for good.
In a statement the company spokesperson said they are closing them due to poor sales numbers.
Sad news for loyal shoppers like Hoeft who came here for a reason.
“We’ve been getting banana’s here because they have a tendency to be riper,” he said.