ORANGEVALE, Calif. — A water main break in Orangevale flooded a neighborhood and closed roads Wednesday.
California Highway Patrol said a water main break happened just before 6:15 a.m. along Pershing Avenue. The road was closed between Chestnut Avenue and Filbert Avenue.
Jason Smith lives near the water main break scene. He was warming up his car when he looked down Pershing Avenue.
“I just (saw) a flood of water and I couldn’t believe it so I decided to drive down to the corner here and water (was) bubbling out of the ground," said Smith. "(I've) seen a lot of things on this street and that was a huge surprise.”
The water was flowing more than half a mile from the break, according to the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District. The fire district said they were close to evacuating multiple neighborhoods, but the water district was able to control the water flow.
In a statement, the Fair Oaks Water District said it was their own equipment that alerted them to the main break. Within an hour of being alerted, the district says it isolated the main break and restored water service to customers.
"By approximately 7:30 a.m. we had every available FOWD employee and a contract crew working on clean up in attempt to limit impact to the local area. FOWD should have much of the impacted area cleaned up by the end of the workday today – noting that after stopping the water leak, our top priority was addressing all potential health and safety issues," the statement said. "The cause of the leak has yet to be determined. The amount of water lost due to the leak will be estimated using our instrumentation."
The water district said it tested the water quality in the area after the main break and results showed the water was fine. If water appears less than clear, the district asks customers to run a hose or bathtub until the water color clears up.
Neighbors like Smith are happy the water was stopped before any significant damage could be done.
"It was pretty incredible. I was surprised to see it," said Smith. "It seemed like water was shut down for a little bit but it’s back on already so no interruption for us… I went back to my normal business and figured they got it covered.”
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