FOX31 Denver

Electricity back on for some after water main break

DENVER (KDVR) — The electricity is back on for residents who live in some of the buildings near where a water main burst in Denver.

Don Jaffe has lived at the building for 12 years.

“I’m up on seven, way up there at the top,” Jaffe said, “and I could see from about three houses in on the corner, on Eudora Street, that there was basically a river of water coming down the street.”

Water, mud flow into parking garage

Jaffe and dozens of other residents were awakened by a water main break around 3 a.m. Thursday.

“The east building, the taller one, the garage is completely flooded,” Joy Bruemmer, another resident in the complex, said.

Water and mud flowed from the pipe that burst near Ninth Avenue and Eudora Street, down the street and into the garage to the Park Mayfair residences.

Bruemmer heard the commotion around 5 a.m.

“We were told to get our cars out of the garage,” Bruemmer said. “I walked through 10 inches of water to get to my car.”

Her car narrowly avoided water and mud damage from the flood.

Denver Water reimbursing for vehicle damage

There’s been no word about the cause of the water main break. Denver Water said it’s had a schedule to replace older pipes around the city. Electricity was shut off for most of the day to the apartment buildings and others nearby.

“The elevators don’t work with no power,” Jaffe said. “The fobs to get in and out of the building don’t work with no power.”

Denver Water said its policy is to reimburse up to $1,000 to anyone who had their vehicles damaged and is helping others find a place to stay. The challenge over the next few days, according to some residents, will be parking.

“No one can park in the streets right around the building, so things will be a little dicey on parking,” Jaffe said.