INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - The brutal temperatures we're experiencing in central Indiana are dangerous and can be deadly.
That's why the Salvation Army took action to help people in need get shelter Tuesday.
The plan was to open up several warming shelters, including one at the Salvation Army Headquarters, but then the agency became a victim of the weather itself.
There's an unwanted ice sculpture in the building's basement: pipes and part of the furnace are frozen solid.
"This was completely covered in ice and we're just we're hammering away and all this stuff because this is the valve that we needed," explained Buddy Steff, Facilities Services Coordinator for the Salvation Army.
Steffy discovered the danger when he came in Tuesday morning.
He says things were fine when he left at 9:30 Monday night, but sometime after that, a water pipe burst and now there's no heat on the bottom floors of Salvation Army Headquarters.
"This here, water was spraying out," Steffy pointed out on a valve amidst the ice. "This was completely frozen over. I couldn't even get it to shut off."
It's obviously a major problem, in need of a major repair.
The heater fix can't happen until those pipes thaw out.
But what's worse, is the timing in these extreme temperatures.
They had to close their headquarters, just when people needed shelter from the cold.
"We planned to be opened up as a warming center here today as well as our corps and now we're shut down and it's just you know...it's not a good situation for us or our families," Steffy said.
They haven't stopped helping people, even with the mess in the basement.
Two other warming stations are open on the north and south sides of Indianapolis, until 8:00 Tuesday night, just not at headquarters, until the heat's back on.
"So we're in a predicament like most people are right now," Steffy said. "We're just trying to get it up and going as quickly as we can so we can start serving our families."
Salvation Army Warming Centers:
Eagle Creek Corps
4400 N. High School Rd.
317-299-4454
Fountain Square Corps
1337 Shelby St.
317-632-0156
