5 businesses move beyond water leaks

NASHUA – Five city businesses were in operation Monday with only minor damage after a water heater burst over the weekend in the Millyard Technology Park building, the property manager said.

“I can’t say enough good about what the fire department did,” general manager Paul Thibodeau said. “I live 10 minutes away, and by the time I got here, they had all the electronic equipment covered with tarps.”

Businesses damaged by the water were Foti’s Cafe on the Millyard, Single Source Group, Visible Edge Computing, radio station WFNX and New Hampshire Machining Association, Thibodeau said.

Single Source Group sells video and data products for offices and training facilities. Visible Edge is an engineering and design firm.

The water leaked from Foti’s, a third-floor restaurant where the water heater was located, to the businesses on the first and second floors, Thibodeau said.

He does not yet have a dollar estimate of the damage. Despite initial reports that one of the companies had its computer mainframe soaked, Thibodeau said most of the damage turned out to be cosmetic.

“There weren’t a lot of electronics damaged,” he said. “We didn’t lose any business hours.”

On Saturday night, Nashua Fire Rescue Lt. Byron Breda estimated the water was spilling out for about an hour before the soaked fixtures triggered the fire alarm. After arriving on scene, fire crews shut off the water, tried to recover as much property as possible and pumped out the water, Breda said.

On Monday afternoon, large dryers had been set up throughout the third-floor restaurant to dry out the carpeting.