DANVILLE — A hot water pipe burst in the Montour County courthouse over the weekend, turning the prothonotary’s office into a steam bath by Monday morning, warping ceiling panels, damaging laminate flooring and forcing workers into temporary quarters.

A pipe leading from a boiler room directly below the prothonotary’s office appears to have burst in two places where it feeds water into a wall heating unit directly behind the desk of Prothonotary Sue Kauwell.

All court-related papers and documents were saved thanks to being safely stored in an adjoining room behind a metal-vaulted door that kept steam and water out, Kauwell said.

But the 100-degree water and moisture from steam caused damage to ceiling panels and the relatively new floor covering that was covered in a couple inches of hot water.

A map of Danville dating to 1857, which has hung as an office centerpiece for decades, was also damaged by the steam. An ugly dark stain now runs across its bottom edge, where the Susquehanna River is depicted.

Desks and other office equipment will also likely have to be replaced, Kauwell said. Damage estimates won’t be known for days, officials said.

The weekend burst may have been due to the old pipe’s age or recent cold spell, said county maintenance manager Tom Starr.

‘That ain’t good’

Starr discovered the damage when he arrived for work about 6 a.m. Monday to check the courthouse steps for ice during a period of freezing drizzle.

“As soon as I got out of my car in the parking lot, I could hear water running from outside the prothonotary’s window,” Starr said.

“I thought to myself, ‘That ain’t good.’ Then I saw what happened when I unlocked the door to the office. It was full of steam,” he said.

Commissioner Chairman Trevor Finn said the county’s maintenance staff went right to work, cleaning up and airing the room with exhaust fans. The county’s computer staff relocated Kauwell and her staff across the hall in the commissioners’ meeting room in about an hour.

The staff processed two marriage licenses Monday morning, while the cleanup continued. They’re likely to remain in their temporary office space through the rest of the week, Kauwell said.

Meanwhile, Montour County’s criminal court proceedings will go on as scheduled this morning, as will the commissioners’ regular meeting at 11 a.m., Finn said.

“We have great employees here and we’ll continue to do what we have to do,” Finn said.

“I’m just glad it happened when it did, and no one got hurt,” he added.