Canadian Casino Forced to Close After Pipes Burst

Posted on: January 16, 2024, 10:28h. 

Last updated on: January 17, 2024, 05:12h.

Playtime Casino, located on Water Street in Kelowna, British Columbia, was overcome by water this week. Pipes burst and water flowed onto the floor and outside the building.

Playtime Casino Kelowna
Playtime Casino Kelowna, pictured above. The Canadian gaming property closed temporarily after pipes burst. (Image; Playtime Casino)

Kelowna Capital News reported that the flooding caused the gaming property to shut down for about a half hour on Sunday afternoon. Local firefighters responded to a report of a broken sprinkler head at the property at about 3:30 p.m., according to the local news outlet.

Visitors were allowed back on the gaming floor after the water was cleaned up, and the casino was operating normally on Monday.

Pipe Freeze

The burst pipes allowed water to flow from the second floor of the gaming property to the outside and onto Water Street, according to Castanet, a local online news site.

The casino released no official damage estimate, but the repair costs were believed to be minimal. No injuries were reported.

Casino General Manager Clarissa Pruden told the news site that pipes running between the casino’s kitchen and parking facility had frozen because of cold temperatures. Temperatures in Kelowna on Sunday ranged between 28 and 34 degrees, according to AccuWeather.

Playtime Casino Kelowna features over 450 slot machines and table games, including blackjack, e-roulette, ultimate Texas hold ’em, and EZ baccarat.

Kelowna is located some 242 miles east of Vancouver, Canada.

Eye Witness Account

Casino visitor Clinton Wood told Castanet that he was playing a table game on Sunday afternoon when an alarm went off, and officials ordered all visitors to leave.

Water was running all over the place and onto the street below by the parkade,” Wood recalled. “We got a pretty good car wash. All these people making all that money, and then the alarm went off. I joked that we were making too much money.”

He added that “quite a few people” were playing table games and slots at the time.