Richard Gwin/Journal World-Photo Joe Ralston, an employee at the Sprint store at 1405 Massachusetts, makes some emergency calls around 11:00 a.m. Friday morning as water from burst pipes due to freezing was running all three floors of the building setting off the fire alarms.

A broken gasket on a sprinkler system caused water to pour through a three-story building in the 900 block of Massachusetts Street on Friday morning, according to Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical.

Water damaged ceiling tiles and fixtures as well as some equipment in the Mobile Communications Center, 945 Mass., causing the store to close for about an hour, employees said.

Water also came through the ceiling into the back part of Qdoba Mexican Grill, 947 Mass., employees said. No damage estimate was available at either location.

Fire & Medical Division Chief Shaun Coffey said it was not known whether the gasket problem was weather related.

Joe Ralston, above, an employee at the Sprint store at 1405 Mass., made emergency calls about 11 a.m. Friday as water from burst pipes was running onto all three floors of the building, setting off the fire alarms.

The recent sub-freezing temperatures have damaged some water pipes, said Curt Kastl, owner of Kastl Plumbing, 4920 Legends Drive. The business has had several requests for service because of broken pipes in the last two days. As daytime high temperatures crept into the 30s, frozen pipes thawed and created damage, Kastl said.