A water-main break probably caused by the cold produced a 60-foot geyser Sunday that spouted for more than three hours, creating flooded, icy streets near East Alameda Avenue and South Havana Street in Aurora.
“It’s shooting in the air, turning into frost, covering at least three cars and breaking off trees,” nearby resident Chris Quintana said as he watched the water levels rise in his apartment parking lot.
Tom Ries, a water manager for the city of Aurora, said the leak was small and probably the result of the freezing temperatures.
“It’s not unusual for us to have water breaks this time of year,” he said. “The most likely culprit is the cold temperatures.”
Ries said that as frost moves deeper into the ground, it causes the ground to freeze and could cause pipes to shift, though he said he wasn’t positive that was the cause for the break. He said city crews isolated the leak about 6:30 p.m.
“It was shooting about 60 feet in the air because of the pressure,” he said.
Ries said the break affected fewer than 200 customers, and he predicted that service would be restored overnight.
– Karen Rouse
