Burst pipe floods businesses in Northeast Philadelphia

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A burst pipe sent water flowing into several Northeast Philadelphia businesses Monday morning.

The situation was first reported at 5 a.m. in the 6500 block of Castor Avenue.

Authorities say a fire connection service line cracked, flooding the shops and forcing a day-long shutdown of water, gas and power.

"We do have some flooding in the basement. That basically took out some of the products we had saved down there, so we have to make a claim for that," said Anthony Son of Love Vape Electronic Cigarettes.

The water department helped pump water from the basements, but the damage was done to a lot of the inventory.

It was the same at the wireless store nearby, which was the epicenter of the break.

A food market was closed down by L&I pending a full inspection.

"The upstairs seems okay, but the electric's out... a lot of the inventory may thaw out," said merchant William Siu.

Because this was not a water department failure, the plumbing repairs fall to the owners of the building and their insurance carriers.