WESTBROOK – Police and firefighters in Westbrook got a rough start to the day Wednesday when a water main break flooded the basement of the Public Safety Building on Main Street, according to Public Safety Director Michael Pardue.

At about 7:30 a.m., Pardue said, Fire Capt. Sam Webster heard a “bang” followed by a rushing noise from the basement.

“They could hear what sounded like water gushing,” Pardue said.

Once the flooding was discovered, officials turned off the water, but not before it ran for about two minutes, Pardue said. That was enough time to deposit eight inches of water in the basement, where the department houses its records, evidence room, locker rooms, and servers and IT equipment, including the equipment that serves the 911 call center.

Fortunately, Pardue said, the servers and electrical equipment were elevated, and not touched by the water.

“It didn’t get compromised,” he said.

The evidence room, he said, was on the opposite side of the basement from the main break, which gave firefighters and police officers enough time to seal off the room before the water got to it.

“All of that was sealed,” Pardue said. “Nothing compromised there.”

Even the records, Pardue said, while damp, do not appear to be ruined. The locker rooms, he said, were close to the break, and received significant damage, including an eight-and-a-half-inch hole the force of the water blew through a wall into the ladies’ locker room. Some uniforms, radios and other equipment were ruined, but otherwise there were no significant losses, and no one was in the basement at the time of the break, Pardue said.

The flood was caused by a failure in a major, high-pressure line that supplies fresh water to the station. Workers are still trying to figure out just what happened, Pardue said.

“For some reason, that pipe had let go,” Pardue said. “We’re not sure why or how.”