Sinkhole Swamps Truck, Cuts Water Service
A large sinkhole snared a propane trailer and caused hundreds of people to go without water Monday.
The cab of a trailer carrying 7,000 gallons of propane got stuck up to its doors at 5 a.m. along a private road in the 2400 block of East 223rd Street, said Gary Wise, a supervising fire dispatcher for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The driver was not hurt and none of the propane escaped.
Two cranes finally pulled the cab out just before noon, Wise said.
The sinkhole was caused by a leak in a foot-wide water main operated by Dominguez Water Co. The situation became difficult when the water company could not shut off the main line, making the sinkhole bigger, Wise said. Two water company employees were lowered into the sinkhole to shut off the water.
Customers within a square mile of the sinkhole were without water for more than 12 hours, Wise said.
The sinkhole was near railroad tracks, and stopped train traffic for an unspecified amount of time, Wise said.
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