KEN CARYL, Colo. (KDVR) — Neighbors on Main Range Trail in Ken Caryl woke up Sunday to water spraying from a pipe in the middle of the road.
“I heard a sound, an unusual sound like a roaring geyser. I know the sound because I’ve heard it before at Yellowstone cause I’ve been there several times,” Jack Warner, who saw the water and called 911 said.
According to Ken Caryl Ranch Water and Sanitation, the reason behind the “geyser” was a weak spot in the 16-inch ductile iron pipeline. Tim Anderson, who is with the district, said that the pipe has been there for 39 years.
“I noticed out the window of the restroom it looked like a thunderstorm or a hurricane at my neighbor’s house but yet on my side of the fence, there was no water and I thought this is very strange,” Warner said.
Warner said the only damage he saw was at his next-door neighbor’s home, which came from the rocks on and under the road being pushed up with the water.
“One good-sized rock broke through the sunroof of a pickup and caused a hole about the size of a baseball,” Warner said.
Anderson said typically the pipes in the Ken Caryl area are only 8 inches but since this pipe feeds to a larger area it’s 16 inches.
“You could hear rocks coming from under the road hitting the house,” Warner said.
The district is also expected to send landscapers to the home where all the water was falling to fix the damage. He also said someone with their district will go out and take estimates for the damage from the water.
“The water was shooting so high in the air, it missed the front two stories of the home and shot up on the roof,” Warner said.
Warner said both the utility company and the fire department responded swiftly. He said they still had running water despite the water main break.
“It shows you can’t exactly plan the future. How often do you wake up and have a geyser in the middle of the road outside your house?” Warner said.
He said by the end of the day, around 9 p.m. Sunday, the road where the break happened was recovered. Warner said the road is expected to be repaved soon.