Large Water Leak in Line Serving FP Business District

  • The water gushed from the broken pipe near the tank, eroding the road. The stream was about 20 inches wide and two inches deep, rushing rapidly down the dirt road to Los Padres Drive. [Patric Hedlund photo for The Mountain Enterprise]

    Image 1 of 3
    The water gushed from the broken pipe near the tank, eroding the road. The stream was about 20 inches wide and two inches deep, rushing rapidly down the dirt road to Los Padres Drive. [Patric Hedlund photo for The Mountain Enterprise]

  • The water was moving with force, cutting into the unpaved road. [Patric Hedlund photo for The Mountain Enterprise]

    Image 2 of 3
    The water was moving with force, cutting into the unpaved road. [Patric Hedlund photo for The Mountain Enterprise]

  • The water flooded onto Los Padres Drive, spreading out across the road and down into a storm drain. [Patric Hedlund photo for The Mountain Enterprise]

    Image 3 of 3
    The water flooded onto Los Padres Drive, spreading out across the road and down into a storm drain. [Patric Hedlund photo for The Mountain Enterprise]

UPDATE • FRAZIER PARK, CA (Sunday, Sept. 26, 2015)—The leaking pipe has been fixed. The loss of water has stopped. See the details in the next issue of The Mountain Enterprise, available on newsstands everywhere on Thursday morning.

FRAZIER PARK, CA (Friday, Sept. 25, 2015 at 7:30 p.m, updated at 9:50)—“An old line” to the Partial B water tank up Mautu Way in Frazier Park has burst, according to Frazier Park Public Utility District worker Bill Wheeler. A substantial flow of water is heading down Mautu Way onto Los Padres Drive, east of Vineyard Church.

Barriers to protect homes along Mautu Way have been erected, and there appears to be major erosion to the upper portion of the road.

“We’ve slowed it [the flow of the leak] down with positive pressure so everyone doesn’t run out of water,” Wheeler said.  He explained that the tank serves the primary downtown business district of Frazier Park from Ace Hardware east, along Mt. Pinos Way.

Asked how long it might take to fix the leak, and how much water is coming out per minute, Wheeler said they won’t know until they can open up a hole to see the pipe to find out what has happened. He said they will try to “fix it live” without turning water off. A small crew with a backhoe has arrived on scene.

Tipsters June and Mary Schmidt brought this to our attention at about 7:15 p.m.

This is part of the September 25, 2015 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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