Crews were able to shut off the water quickly and damage was minimal to the school
HAZEL DELL — Columbia River High School along NE 99th Street suffered minor damage overnight after a water main break flooded the parking lot.
Clark County Fire District 6 responded to the school shortly after midnight to find thousands of gallons of water pouring out of an embankment in the southwest corner of the parking lot.
The eight inch main is estimated to carry 1,600 gallons of water a minute.
Fire crews were able to quickly locate both valves to the looped system, shutting off the massive flow of water.
Pat Nuzzo, a spokesperson with Vancouver Public Schools, says water did get into the school’s small gym but was cleaned up this morning. Groundwater that seeped into part of the building’s basement was also being pumped out, and some landscaping will need to be replaced.
Clark County Public Utilities crews were on scene this morning repairing the main. Mud that had been washed into the parking lot was being cleaned up.
Nuzzo says crews had been working in the area where the main broke on Thursday, though it was not known if that work led to the break.
Fire District 6 noted in a release that this is the second main break in roughly the same area near 99th Street and Columbia River High School.
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It is also the second major water main break for the Vancouver area this month.
On Oct. 3 a contractor working on a new school building near East Mill Plain and Fort Vancouver Way ruptured an 18-inch main, sending an estimated 1.4 million gallons of water flooding into the Fort Vancouver Regional Library headquarters. The building and its contents suffered thousands of dollars in damage.
