Hydrant hit by car spews thousands of gallons of water
Bryce Alderton
Thousands of gallons water gushed from a fire hydrant after it was hit
by a motorist in Huntington Beach on Monday.
About 75,000 gallons of water per minute, for 15 minutes, spewed into
the street at the intersection of Beach Boulevard and Slater Avenue, said
Dennis MacLain, the city’s water operations manager.
Huntington Beach resident Robert Stellrecht, 71, hit the hydrant in
his 2000 Chevrolet pickup to avoid a traffic accident, said Lt. Chuck
Thomas with the Huntington Beach Police Department.
The two cars didn’t collide, and no one was injured although there was
minor damage to the front-right side of the truck, Thomas said. There was
no evidence of drugs or alcohol, and Stellrecht stayed at the scene
following the accident, police said.
The Huntington Beach Fire Department turned the water off and city
crews then reinstalled the hydrant, MacLain said.
“We probably get three or four cases like this a year,” MacLain said.
“No one reported any flooding. All the water that came out of the hydrant
probably flowed into a storm drain, and it was all potable water.”
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