Car crashes into fire hydrant, flooding Broadway intersection; at least 2 injured

A vehicle struck a fire hydrant in Sacramento early Wednesday morning, injuring at least two people and flooding an intersection on Broadway, Fire Department and city utilities officials said.

The Sacramento Fire Department received a call to dispatch at 3:46 a.m. about a person possibly trapped after a one-vehicle collision at the corner of 65th Street and Broadway, spokesman Keith Wade said. An off-duty Sacramento police officer had come upon the scene and reported someone was trapped inside the vehicle, Wade said.

The Fire Department sent one fire engine, a truck, an ambulance and a battalion chief to the scene. Fire crews were able to extricate the occupants without having to use the Jaws of Life or a similar mechanism, Wade said.

Wade said the Fire Department transported two of the vehicle’s three occupants to an area hospital for their injuries. The extent of those injuries and the patients’ conditions were not immediately known.

The collision knocked down one hydrant and damaged the water main, flooding most of the intersection and leading Sacramento police to close the intersection temporarily.

Police are investigating the collision.

Utility workers were on-scene to shut down the water line and prevent further flooding. The water had drained from the roadway by about 6 a.m. and the intersection had fully reopened by that time.

A Sacramento Department of Utilities 311 agent said city crews at 7 a.m. were en route to repair the fire hydrant.

The incident happened in front of a Starbucks, which was closed at the time of the incident but opened as of 6 a.m.

Wade said the Fire Department receives calls in which extrication from a vehicle using special equipment is necessary roughly five to 10 times per month.

“A lot of them are more simple operations and some are more complicated,” Wade said.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 8:21 AM.