Water main break in Lincoln
Water floods streets, homes on River Road
A National Grid crew working on a gas line at River Road and Sweeney Street Wednesday evening apparently struck an unidentified water main at the site causing a major break, according to police. Capt. Philip Gould said a “significant discharge of water” resulted from the break with water shooting “30 to 40 feet” into the air during the 5:40 p.m. incident. Water from the break immediately began to flood the basements of two nearby homes on Bradford Street, Gould said. Members of the Saylesville Fire Department assisted the families with pumping out the water but both dwellings were evacuated as a result of the water damage. As of 9:30 p.m., town water crews were still working on shutting down the flow of water from the broken pipe. Water could be seen bubbling up from the flooded work pit at River Road and Sweeney as more and more of flow was shut off. Gould said the water crews were having difficulty with some frozen shutoff valves due to the cold and and were attempting to access other shut off points as the isolation process continued. National Grid would not be able to resume work on the gas line problem at the site until the water was completely shut down and, as a result, was venting from the line into the air as the water shutoff efforts continued. Gould said four homes in the area were without water as a result of the emergency and it remained unclear whether the ongoing work would require school to be canceled at the nearby Lonsdale Elementary School on Thursday. Gould said that decision would be posted on town websites. At right, Lincoln Police Sgt. Walter Ptaszek and Capt. Philip Gould at the scene of the break Wednesday night.