When Rita Vuolo got up early Tuesday to get her restaurant ready to serve its customers after the new year holiday, she thought it was going to be a good day — even her car started right up in the sub-zero weather that morning. But when she tried to open the doors of Rooster’s Cafe on Main Street in Danville and they were frozen shut, she knew something was wrong. When Vuolo stepped into her building and frigid water rushed out and into her shoes, and she had to slosh through water nearly to her knees, she knew it wasn’t going to be a good day after all.

Vuolo purchased A.J’s cafe in October and renamed it Rooster’s. She said she’s been learning the business and working hard to cook what her customers want. But she hadn’t planned on a massive water pipe freezing and bursting.

She said when she discovered the flood about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, after being closed since Saturday, she immediately searched for switches to turn off and water shut off valves, but the damage had already been done. Vuolo said someone mentioned it looked like a fire hose going full blast.

After quick calls to the city water department, her plumber Mark Kitchen  and Greg Ramey with American Bio Systems to schedule a dry-out and clean up, by 4 p.m. the building was still damp with puddles from the back kitchen, all the way through the front to the bathrooms. However, plans were being made to get the restaurant up and running by 6 a.m. today.