Museum Reopens After Water Leak
The Laguna Art Museum closed Tuesday after officials discovered 18 inches of water from an underground spring in an elevator shaft and strong fumes that reportedly smelled like gas.
No damage was reported, however, and the Fire Department, though still monitoring the situation, was not concerned about fire or other hazards. The museum reopened Wednesday.
“I am about 90% sure it’s not a problem, and today (Thursday) I authorized them to go ahead and run the elevators,” Laguna Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe McClure said Thursday.
McClure said the leak probably stemmed from the failure of a worn, 5-year-old sump pump, designed to continually drain the elevator shaft area below the three-level museum’s basement floor.
The flooding probably caused a container of elevator hydraulic fluid to spill, causing the noisome fumes, said McClure, who intended to check the site again today.
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