A maintenance worker cleans up some of the water damage in Scott Laboratory on Feb. 20. A fire sprinkler head froze and broke, causing flooding and water damage in the basement of the building. Credit: Robert Scarpinito / Lantern reporter

A maintenance worker cleans up some of the water damage in Scott Laboratory on Feb. 20. A fire sprinkler head froze and broke, causing flooding and water damage in the basement of the building. Credit: Robert Scarpinito / Lantern reporter

Some classes were canceled after a fire sprinkler head froze and broke Friday morning in the Scott Laboratory basement and caused water damage. The basement is now closed to maintain student safety, said Administration and Planning spokesman Dan Hedman.

Maintenance crews arrived soon after to repair the piping and restore the area. The repairs are set to take a few days, but there is no official estimate of when it will be done, Hedman said in an email.

Hedman said he could not provide information about the extent or costs of the damage.

Sean Allen, a first-year in business, waited in front of a barricade of trash cans and yellow caution tape that was assembled to prevent entry into the flooded area. He was going to his microeconomics recitation until he found what happened in the basement.

“(The maintenance workers) didn’t really try to stop me at all, they just showed up and had all these trash cans set up,” Allen said.

He said while standing and watching the cleanup efforts, he received an email sent out by his recitation teaching associate saying the class was canceled due to the water damage.