Large sinkhole opens near reported sewer line failure in Madera, residents asked to limit water use

MADERA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Madera has prompted the city to once again ask residents to limit their water use after another sewer line break.

A large sinkhole has also been reported near the break, in the area of W. Pecan and S. Granda. The California Highway Patrol says the rear trailer of a big rig fell into the hole.

The sinkhole and sewer break are near the location where crews have been working to repair a sewer trunk failure.

Both were caused by a sewer line failure below the road's surface.

This latest one swallowed the back of a big rig and the driver called a co-worker as it was happening.

"The first thing he said, 'I'm falling into a hole.' At first, I thought he's making a joke with me. But when he started screaming, probably when the hole was pulling his truck as when he was screaming, 'Help me help me,'" said the driver's coworker, Miguel Gutierrez.

Gutierrez says once he stepped out of his office he could hear and see his coworker's truck sinking into the hole.

"At first I could say, he was just scared, but after I saw him, he was in pain," said Gutierrez.

Crews worked for several hours, using a crane to get the trailer out.

Meanwhile, city officials asked residents to limit their water usage, just like they did after last week's similar incident.

Madera City Manager, Arnoldo Rodriguez, says he understands it's an inconvenience for people living in the city, again.

"This is the city's primary and only truck sewer main, it's 42 inches in diameter and carries approximately 5 million gallons of raw sewage a day," said Rodriguez.

Officials say the line is 50 years old and the infrastructure is simply not up to date.

"We became aware of it a number of years ago that it was approaching the last legs in terms of its lifespan, we did have a project planned," said Madera City Engineer, Keith Helmuth.

The city hoped to start construction on the new project July 1st, but local leaders are unsure if the collapses will now delay that.

City Engineer Keith Helmuth says when they started evaluating the line, they never imagined the damage it could cause.

"There was not a concern, we thought we did have enough time on that, the one that happened about a week and a half ago was a surprise," said Helmuth.

They are now in the process of trying to get the project bid approved by the city council as soon as possible.

Gutierrez says it's still frightening after their drivers also drove over last week's sinkhole - but he's grateful everyone is okay.

"He was paranoid about that one too, he was like imagine if I was just to go in there, and even here with this guy, if the whole thing would've gone, we would've lost someone," said Gutierrez.

There will now be a special city council meeting Tuesday at 5 pm to try and get that bid approved.

In the meantime, the area of Avenue 13 near Pecan Avenue will be closed until further notice as they work to repair the sewer line.

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