A powerful geyser of water blasted into the sky at Main and West Beach streets for more than five hours Monday after a big rig knocked over a fire hydrant just past 10am.
The stream of water gushing from the ground was so strong that it chewed open an 8-foot sinkhole on West Beach Street where a water main had been torn apart.
Watsonville Water Division Manager Beau Kayser said Thursday estimates are that about 1.5 million gallons of water were wasted in the incident.
“Just to put that into perspective, the average daily production of water in Watsonville is six to seven million gallons,” he said. “That gives you an idea that it was a significant amount of water.”
Watsonville Police and firefighters rushed to the scene and closed off several lanes on Main Street and all lanes of West Beach Street between Rodriguez and Main streets.
Watsonville Police said a big rig driver was attempting a right turn from West Beach Street onto southbound Main Street when she shaved the hydrant off at its base. The big rig also brushed against a light pole, tearing off the pedestrian crosswalk button. Police said the driver then left the scene but not before video surveillance cameras picked up images on the license plates and other identifying features.
An 8-foot wide river of rapidly running water gushed along West Beach Street, then left on Rodriguez Street and down the length of the block into storm drains.
A Public Works crew showed up and a crew struggled for hours trying to stop the noisy geyser from wasting thousands of gallons a minute. The geyser was so powerful that, as it blasted against the brick wall of the Watsonville Center for the Arts, it worked its way indoors where workers there frantically fought to mop it outdoors.
At one point firefighters realized the water shower had also formed a foot-deep pool on top of the building, forcing emergency workers to evacuate the building in fears that the roof might cave in, according to Battalion Chief Corey Schaefer.
Crews eventually drove a backhoe into the scene and placed the heavy metal scoop bucket over the geyser to ease the flow against the brick building.
Hundreds of people stopped by over the day to take photos and videos. By 3:30pm crews had largely, but not entirely, stopped the water from surging out of the sinkhole.
Michelle Pulido, spokeswoman for Watsonville Police, said WPD officers eventually tracked down the big rig driver, who said she was unaware of the collision. Insurance claims are now underway.
Hit and run, leaving the scene of an accident are a couple I can think of. Make him pay for all the damage and costs of clean up. Big rigs shouldn’t be allowed on side streets.