Struck Hydrant Spews One Million Gallons of Water

El Nopal in Lakeside was temporarily closed following the gushing water

A truck struck a fire hydrant in Lakeside Friday night, causing plenty of water to spew into the surrounding streets, fire officials confirmed.

The incident happened just past 8 p.m. at El Nopal and Riverford Road when a truck lost control and hit a fire hydrant. No injuries were reported.

By 8:20 p.m., CHP officials confirmed El Nopal had been temporarily closed down due to the water in the road. The water gushing from the hydrant was shut off by 10:15 p.m.

Officials said the hydrant spilled an estimated one million gallons of water into the street.

The water spewed a 40-foot geyser straight into power lines overhead, which created a big problem according to firefighters, who worried that the water could have electricity flowing through it.

For two hours, the geyser kept flowing. Finally, power company workers were able to shut off power for firefighters could go in.

Fire Capt. Chuck Palmore worked the watery scene, but said he wasn’t worried about being electrocuted.

The driver of the truck was not cited by CHP officers, who said he is a young and inexperienced driver.

It is unclear if he will have to foot the bill for the approximately one million gallons of lost water.

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