Repairs have been the name of the game for Emporia’s Underground Utilities Department on Friday.
A crew worked for several hours to restore order at South and Market after a car-pickup collision wrecked a fire hydrant around 5 am. It took until after 11 am to get the situation under control, but Public Works Director Dean Grant says there was a reason why it took so long.
In addition, Evergy wouldn’t let crews access the site immediately because the water was spraying into the power lines above.
Grant says the incident affected the city’s elevated storage tank capacity, but it did not affect the capacity inside the two standpipes outside the Water Treatment Plant. At this time, there is no word on just how much water was lost.
The crash is still under investigation and has forced the city to put barricades up a block away from the intersection in all directions. Emporia Police Sgt. Rob Turner says a car on Market apparently ran a stop sign before crashing into a pickup on East South. The car’s driver allegedly fled and is still being sought. The car was pushed through a fire hydrant, spraying water both into the vehicle and across the intersection. Both vehicles narrowly missed a utility pole in the northeast corner of the intersection.
Click here for KVOE News’ initial coverage.
Click here for KVOE News’ story on the water line break outside Bunge.
Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
{gallery}022621 Hydrant Crash{/gallery}
