The Austin Fire Department and Harty Mechanical are doing their parts to help residents with frozen water lines.

Austin Utilities General Manager Mark Nibaur confirmed the number of properties dealing with frozen pipes has spiked to at least 85, and some people around town have said it’s more than 100.

Fire Chief James McCoy is offering the Austin Fire Department as a site for residents to get water if their lines are frozen. McCoy said residents must haul water themselves and have their own receptacles to carry it. McCoy said multiple residents already took them up on the offer Tuesday and Wednesday.

And, Harty Mechanical just started working on frozen pipes, making it one of the few Austin companies doing such work, along with Elk Construction out of Dexter.

Matt Anderson, an estimator with Harty Mechanical, said some contractors in Rochester and other communities are backed up at least a week.

The frozen pipes have been caused by the abnormally freezing temperatures that have hit the region over the past two months, which have caused the ground to freeze even deeper than normal.