Broken Water Main Floods Auto Dealership

Sun., Feb. 27, 2000

From Staff Reports

Employees of Dan Barton Oldsmobile Cadillac arrived at work Saturday morning to find a flood in the making.

A broken water main deposited two feet of water over a quarter acre in the dealership’s lot, manager Bill Banger said.

“When we got there (Saturday) morning, it was just gurgling like an artesian well.”

No cars were damaged, though it took about five hours for Coeur d’Alene city crews to locate and shut off the line.

The broken main was part of an old sprinkler system at the dealership on 315 Dalton Ave.

Though the water main still had pressure, it had been abandoned about 15 years earlier, which made it difficult to find, Banger said.

The broken main was discovered at about 7:30 a.m., and shut off at about 1 p.m.

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