Updated at 11:35 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A water main break last night caused a hole in the ground in a Centralia neighborhood estimated to be fifty feet long and seven feet deep.
Riverside Fire Authority Capt. Casey McCarthy said firefighters responded about 8 p.m. to the area where police had closed one block of East Main Street.
McCarthy described moderate flooding.
“I don’t know if it got into any residences, but it sure got into some yards,” McCarthy said this morning.
Workers from the city water department came out and shut off the water, McCarthy said.
The hole was estimated to be about 15 feet wide, according to McCarthy.
The Centralia Police Department blocked off the area between South Buckner and Berry streets, he said.
The one block remains closed, but the 10-inch water main has been repaired and the hole in the ground filled back in, Centralia city Water Operations Manager Tom Cleary said this morning.
A gasket on a collar on the transite water line that could be as much as 70 years old was leaking, he said.
Cleary said someone reported the leak last night and the on-duty person was out looking at it when the section of pipe blew out.
A number of people lost water pressure and those in the immediate area would have been without any incoming water at all, he said.
He said he’s not sure how soon they’ll get the street black-topped, because of the weather.
Everyone’s water service has been restored, according to Cleary.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter