The first move is mechanical: close the main shutoff. Every gallon after that decision is a gallon that does not need drying, and the shutoff is the one tool every homeowner should be able to find in the dark. If water has reached outlets or appliances, cut power to those rooms at the breaker before wading in.
In San Gabriel's old stock, the first hour begins one step earlier than usual: finding the shutoff is part of the emergency, because a century of plumbing hides valves in garden walls, under additions, and behind the water heater's own archaeology. Know yours on a calm day, tag it, and tell the dispatcher if it will not fully close; a crew that knows the valve's condition arrives with the right plan instead of a second trip.
The second move is evidence: photographs of the failed line, the rooms, and the water's reach, taken before anything is moved or mopped. Insurers approve documented sudden losses; undocumented ones get argued. Note the time you found it and the time the water stopped.
The third move is the repair read: a split is a symptom with a cause (freeze, corrosion, pressure, age), and the repair visit should name the cause, because a patched effect with a live cause is next season's burst in a nearby section of the same run.
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