Fire truck 'trapped' after water leak erodes road, detouring Oak Bay traffic

Jul 17, 2023

Pooling water quickly eroded a road in Oak Bay, where commuters were forced to detour after a responding fire truck sank “a couple of feet into the ground,” according to fire crews.

Crews with the Oak Bay Fire Department were called to the scene Sunday morning for a report of a water main break at the corner of Estevan Avenue and Beach Drive, says Acting Assistant Fire Chief Kyle Beaumont.

“They made the corner onto Estavan, and then, as you can see, the road ended up giving away underneath the vehicle,” Beaumont told CHEK News on scene.

“It caused our engine to be trapped.”

In a tweet at 1:31 p.m., the Oak Bay Police Department said Estevan Avenue between Beach Drive and Esplanade was closed to all vehicle traffic until the road was assessed for safety after flooding in the area.

Beaumont says the water had “undermined the road” when firefighters arrived via fire engine.

“Water was starting to pool on Beach Drive, and when they made the corner, I’m guessing the water erosion from the water main break just caused the road to give way with the weight of the vehicle,” he said. “The truck is probably sunk down a couple of feet into the ground.”

While the road was damaged, surrounding properties were unscathed.

“We had a lot of water initially to deal with, and we had some properties being threatened down the road. The guys (firefighters) did a really good job making sure the water didn’t mitigate into any properties,” explained Beaumont.

“Even though the vehicle may be out of service for a little bit, the guys did a really good job making sure that no properties were threatened.”

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The cause of the water main break is under investigation, and it’s unknown how much water was lost, according to Beaumont.

“We’re working with Public Works and we’re making sure any affected residents in the area (have) proper instructions for any kind of boil water (advisory), anything like that,” he added.

Oak Bay police will post updates about the road closure to their Twitter page.

Road closure to all vehicle traffic on Estevan Ave between Beach Dr. & Esplanade. No vehicle access onto Esplanade via Estevan Ave until roadway has been assessed for safety after flooding in the area. Thank you for you patience and understanding in advance. @DistrictOakBay pic.twitter.com/NlvjpNxZ57

— Oak Bay Police (@OakBayPolice) August 6, 2023

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