In the early morning an Engine was dispatched to a “water problem”. The Engine was heading south then stopped at the intersection. Upon arriving, the Engine noticed a moderate amount of water running down the street. The water was described as flowing down the street, but the crew stated that they did not observe any turbulence in the water that would indicate the point of origin. There was one street light at the intersection and no others down the block.  According to the crew, the street was wet but they did not see any rocks or dirt that would indicate they were near the main break. A DWP truck stopped with their lights flashing about 7 – 10 houses to the west. This caused the crew to think the problem was near the DWP truck down the block.  The Engine traveled 2 houses down the block then thought they might be in a bad position. It was decided that they were going to back up. The two firemen exited to cab to back the Engine up. As  the Engine started to back it sank to the bumper level. The Engine continued to sink forcing the Engineer and Captain to leave the cab. The Engineer said he rolled his window down and jumped out of the window.

When responding to reported water problems consider the following:

WHERE IS THE WATER COMING FROM?

If you arrive on scene and find a sheared hydrant it is obvious where your problem is.   The force from the water is straight up, not underground where is will erode soil under the asphalt. You are not dealing with a situation that will cause a sink hole.

If you arrive on scene and find an unusual ammount of water flowing down the street, and there is not a CLEAR source identified, this should raise some concerns.  There is a strong possibility there is an underground main break. The force of the water will now be underground eroding the soil leaving only the unsupported asphalt on the surface. 

WHAT WILL YOU SEE?

Depending on the size of the main and the break, you may see a crack in the ground with water bubbling from it or you may see a flood from curb to curb.  Whatever you see  PROCEED WITH CAUTION.  It may be a good idea to stop short and walk up to investigate. While walking, use a pike pole or rubbish hook to feel around in front of you so you dont fall into a hole. If DWP is on scene, make contact with them, they deal with this sort of thing all the time.

You will also see mud and rocks that will have been forced out of the ground by the water. This is a sure sign of an underground main break.