The photos show damage to the editor’s office. The waterline burst on one of the upper floors of the building. Watermarks on the outside of the building point to the waterline being on the third floor.
Ryan Berry | Daily Advocate
The photos show damage to the editor’s office. The waterline burst on one of the upper floors of the building. Watermarks on the outside of the building point to the waterline being on the third floor.
Ryan Berry | Daily Advocate
By Ryan Berry
DailyAdvocate.com
GREENVILLE — The Daily Advocate/The Early Bird suffered extreme damage on Friday morning when a waterline burst above their office at 100 Washington Ave., Greenville. The leak was discovered around 8 a.m. when the first employees opened the doors and found water gushing from inside the building to the outside.
Watermarks on the wall near where the majority of the damage occurred showed there was at least a foot of water rushing through the hallway. Ceilings in five of the offices caved in with ceiling tiles dropping to the floor and on desks. The brackets holding up the ceiling and a fluorescent light fixture fell in the editor’s office and individual light fixtures in the hallways had also come down.
There was plenty of water damage in every office which also spread to the business next door.
The Daily Advocate/The Early Bird is pleased with the quick response by everyone involved. Andrew Riffle, building owner, had his father on scene within 20 minutes, the city’s water department had the water shutoff to the fire suppression system within 30 minutes of learning about the leak and Bill Hawkey & Associates had begun the clean-up process within two hours of discovering the leak. A connector on the waterline for the fire suppression system was the culprit that caused thousands of dollars in damage. A damage estimate has not been established.
Although clean-up has begun, it may take a while for the newspaper to reestablish itself fully. We are working to find a temporary location where we can open our office to the public and accept news releases, advertising, etc. in person. We are also assessing damage to our computers, printers, phones, and cameras. We may be calling on our readers and advertisers to resend information that was lost due to the severe damage that was suffered.
Although we can still receive voicemail, responses from our employees may be slowed because of the damage to some of the phones and because employees are working remotely this week, and some do not have access to internet.
The following is a list of phone numbers and email addresses for the department heads. If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact us and we will do our best to get in touch with you.
Advertising Manager, Christine Randall, [email protected], 937-569-4303; Editor, Ryan Berry, [email protected], 937-569-4312; Circulation and Subscriptions, Lori Denniston, [email protected], 937-569-4340; Sports Editor, Drew Terhall, [email protected], 937-569-0122; and Customer Service, 937-569-4301.
The Daily Advocate/The Early Bird will continue to publish newspapers and update our website as we normally do. That will not change as we move forward. Our reporters will continue to cover stories that inform and entertain our readers. Our advertising department is also ready to help your business excel. Feel free to call us at one of the phone numbers above if you have questions.
Thank you for your patience as we work through getting our building back in order and finding a temporary home.
To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].
