Fire Hydrant sheared in Fullerton

On March 31, 2008 I was on my way to work when I saw a 25' tower of water at the upcoming intersection. I immediately parked and grabbed my camera. I was the first one there. A hydrant had been sheared off, but there was no car in sight. I shot some photos for about five minutes before the fire department showed up. Some residents came out to watch as the lake formed outside their windows. A fireman was tasked with the job of deflecting the torrent of water so that it would go more into the street and less into the lake forming against the apartments. He spent at least half an hour holding the plate. Afterwards the division chief asked for photos of him since her cell phone camera couldn't get close enough. Next to the apartments is the drainage "river". The firefighters decided to knock a hole in the wall in order to get the water to start draining out and stop flooding the apartments. The water department and firemen had a lot of trouble finding the correct valve to shut off the hydrant. The turned off the north one, then the south one, then one a few feet away from the hydrant, then they finally found the correct valve. Turns out the city had paved over the valve cover in the street and not marked it. The apartment complex flooded about 20 ground floor apartments. The residents and firemen moved their belongings into the courtyard to dry them out. Every apartment had about an inch of standing water on the carpet. Dozens of people were affected. The city water crews measured the distance the hydrant flew, 17 feet. On the curb was just a minor scratch, and the hydrant itself appeared to have only minor damage. Unless a traffic camera caught it, or a witness comes forwards later, the odds of finding out who hit it are low. Just as I was about to leave a policeman came up and said I had to "stay out of the crime scene" until "I finish my investigation." He was directing traffic. The police photographer had already shot everything. The water crew had already replaced the hydrant.

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