NORTH ATTLEBORO - Water leaking from a broken 500-gallon hot water tank flooded a half-dozen rooms at North Attleboro High School on Saturday, just a week after vandals caused thousands of dollars in damage to the neighboring middle school.

The fire department responded to North Attleboro High School at around 6 p.m. after receiving reports of a water emergency from one of the custodians at the school.

Custodian Sheila Anderson said she just finished her dinner break when she walked into the lower level of the high school and discovered water pouring out of a large utility room that houses hot water tanks and electrical equipment.

"It was like a river," she said as she pointed to soaked shoes and socks, as she worked to vacuum up water that remained on the floor of a hallway area.

She said the force of the water coming out was very strong. According to another custodian, a drain plug on one of two 500-gallon hot water tanks broke off, letting the water drain out, and continue flowing until it was discovered. It's not certain how much water leaked.

Firefighters arrived to find about 2 inches of water flooding six rooms in the basement of the school, including a special education classroom and an old wood shop area. Assisted by school custodians, firefighters were able to push the water into a floor drain and out of automotive bays at the rear of the high school, according to Fire Captain Scott Meyer.

By 8:30 p.m., five custodians with wet-vacs and mops worked feverishly to get the water off of the classroom floors that earlier in the evening had more than 2 to 4 inches of water. Custodians were evaluating water damage to a television production area and control room. It appeared the damage was confined to the floor and the electronic equipment appeared untouched by the water.

Workers said they didn't find any significant damage to the classrooms as the floors in the basement are concrete. There was no estimate available of the monetary damages.

Unlike the $50,000 in damage caused last week to the adjacent North Attleboro Middle School, the incident is not the result of vandalism. Insurance will cover all but the town's $15,000 deductible for that damage, officials said last week. Two juvenile suspects have been charged in the case.