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Los Angeles County Fire arrived just before 4 a.m. at the broken main site north of Constitution Avenue in front of the Valencia Marketplace. Traffic was diverted through the Marketplace parking lot.
“It creates a hassle for the public because the roads are closed,” said Keith Abercrombie, vice president of operations for Valencia Water. “But it’s something we deal with and try to deal with it as fast as we can.”
The break created a 30-foot-wide sinkhole but there were no injuries, said fire Supervisor Robert Diaz. No homes or buildings were damaged.
Water more than a foot deep flooded the 150-foot area of roadway and spilled over the sidewalk, Abercrombie said. L.A. County Fire officials cordoned off the road to keep the water from creating further damage.
“When a line breaks, the water wants to find the path of least resistance,” Abercrombie said. “So it comes out at the curves and the cracks.”
“That’s what makes the area of repair so large,” he added.
Crews spent much of the morning repairing the water main and repaving the roadway. Broken asphalt slabs were piled near the sinkhole as technicians worked to remove the damaged pipe.
Only one business, Payless ShoeSource, was left without water for a brief time, Abercrombie said. The water supply was restored ten minutes after the store manager opened the doors at 10 a.m.
“The system is built in a looped way so we can isolate certain places and not lose water service to customers,” Abercrombie said.
Several passers-by, like the Painters, parked in the nearby lot to take a peek at the damage.
“It’s a good thing it wasn’t on Black Friday,” said Ken Painter, of Stevenson Ranch. “That could have been bad for some of these stores.”
Abercrombie said Valencia Water will continue to investigate the source of the break.
