Gushing Hydrant Blamed for Threatening Mudslide

Four homes in Encanto were threatened Wednesday by a river of mud that oozed down a hillside, undetected for almost seven hours.

City officials blamed the mudslide on a hydrant that was knocked over about midnight near the 6300 block of Madrone Avenue by a driver suspected of being drunk. The street runs above the threatened homes. Work crews repairing portions of the street washed away by the water said the torrent flowed for about seven hours before it was cut off.

Cruz Gonzalez, director of the city’s risk management department, said he did not know why it took repair crews so long to respond to the broken hydrant.

No injuries were reported, but Gonzalez said city officials are keeping a watchful eye on the hill, as heavy rains were expected to hit the San Diego area Wednesday night and today. The storm is expected to dump as much as 1 1/2 inches of rain, with another storm predicted for the weekend.

One house, inhabited by a woman and her teen-age son, was evacuated. Part of the hill crumbled around the back yard, leaving about 6 inches of mud around the foundation. Neighbors said gooey mud flowed through the house and out the front door, toward Imperial Avenue.

The other homes escaped serious damage, but residents had to cope with gallons of liquid mud that covered yards and the asphalt road in front of their homes. Repair crews were forced to cover dirt driveways with gravel so residents’ cars would not get stuck.

But one house was, amazingly, spared.

Betty Zatarian, who lives next door to the evacuated home, shook her head in disbelief. The mudslide navigated around her house, leaving only a trace of mud and water in her kitchen.

“The city building inspector was here earlier. He couldn’t understand how the mud went around my house,” Zatarian said.

Zatarian, who has lived in her Madrone Avenue home for more than 25 years, said her daughter heard water during the night and thought it was raining.

Marisela Barajas, who lives up the hill from Zatarian, also heard the water during the night and, like Zatarian’s daughter, thought it was rain.

“I woke up at dawn and heard what I thought was rain. I looked out the window but didn’t see anything,” Barajas said.

A small area of the hill broke apart in the back yard of Barajas’ home, but there was no damage to the house.

Meanwhile, authorities are keeping a wary eye on a home in Spring Valley that is slowly being shoved aside by another mudslide, brought on by recent heavy rain. Lenora Pullin’s home on Eileen Street has been collapsing since last Thursday.