Freezing weather damages homes, apartments, and public buildings across Whatcom County

Record cold temperatures have damaged hundreds of homes, apartments, businesses and public buildings — including the Whatcom Museum’s Lightcatcher galleries, the Bellingham School District administrative offices, and even fire stations.

Preliminary damage estimates show that the cost could rise into the tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Public Works Department crews and firefighters responded to almost 100 service requests related to frozen pipes through Saturday afternoon, the city said at its Facebook page.

“There definitely has been an increase in emergencies because of the weather,” Bellingham Fire Capt. Dustin Michaelis told The Bellingham Herald.

Michaelis said that firefighters answered 547 alarms from Thursday to Tuesday. During that time frame in 2023, there were 329 calls.

“(During) the recent weather event we experienced we responded to 167 calls for sprinkler activations, water problems, electrical hazards, and public service requests,” he told The Herald.

An arctic chill has kept temperatures below freezing for nearly a week, including three straight days of record low temperatures, according to National Weather Service data.

Some overnight low temperatures were the coldest in 70 years, and daytime highs have been as much as 40 degrees below normal for mid-January.

In response, Bellingham, Whatcom County and Ferndale expanded their shelter capacity for unhoused people.

No deaths related to cold exposure had been reported to the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office, chief investigator Deborah Hollis told The Herald in an email.

Several restrooms at city parks were closed because of frozen pipes, along with other damage to city facilities, the city said online.

“This includes Squalicum Creek, Whatcom Falls and Lake Padden parks. Some locations will be served with temporary portable facilities,” the city said on Facebook.

“The Whatcom Museum Lightcatcher building was closed for the weekend due to impacts from frozen pipes,” the city said.

No exhibits or items from the museum’s collection were damaged, said museum spokeswoman Adrienne Dawson. Water froze in a cistern that hold water to flush the building’s toilets, she said.

“A bit of water leaked into the lobby. It didn’t get into the galleries or the artwork,” Dawson said.

Public Works spokeswoman Riley Grant told The Herald that an estimated cost of repairs won’t be known until the damage can be inspected.

“Like many in the community and despite extensive preparation and careful attention to detail, the city of Bellingham experienced some frozen pipes at facilities. Due to the continued cold temperatures, any possible damage or required repairs are still unknown but will be assessed once the pipes unfreeze. We anticipate most of the repairs to be routine,” Grant said in an email.

▪ Pipes froze in a restroom at Fire Station 5 on Northwest Drive, but emergency response wasn’t affected, Grant said.

▪ A propane regulator failed at the temporary shower facility behind City Hall, but repairs were expected before normal weekend operations on Friday.

Bellingham Public Schools district offices in the 1908 Roeder School are closed because of water damage from a burst pipe on Saturday, Superintendent Greg Baker said in an email to parents and staff.

“Fortunately, with the construction of our new building on Barkley getting closer to completion, we were able to move our data center and tech hub into the new building this weekend and away from the flooding in the current building,” Baker said.

Administrative staff members were working from other school locations or home.

Whatcom County’s Ann Deacon Center for Hope suffered about $4,500 in damage when the fire sprinkler system froze, facilities manager Rob Ney said in an email.

“We had a substantial amount of water enter the building before the Fire Department arrived and turned off the system. Our costs to date were water extraction by our own forces, and again yesterday cleaning the oily residue that resides in the sprinkler pipes. We will also have to have the sprinkler pipe repaired,” Ney said.

“At this point we don’t believe we will have to perform remedial work on the walls, but will evaluate that after we run the fans for several days.” he said.

Damage at other buildings was possible as temperatures warm, Ney said.

South Whatcom Fire Authority was forced to close its Station 22 in Sudden Valley because of water damage. Administrative offices were open for normal business hours, fire authority officials said on Facebook.

“Firefighters and equipment have been relocated to the Geneva (Station 21) fire station until further notice. We are assessing damage and working on mitigation as quickly as possible,” officials said.