Water filled the street of a Northwest Fresno neighborhood after a water main break

Friday, February 26, 2016
Water filled the street of a Northwest Fresno neighborhood after a water main break
Several thousand gallons of water filled the streets of Northwest Fresno because of a water main break Thursday morning.

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Several thousand gallons of water filled the streets of Northwest Fresno because of a water main break Thursday morning.

It's cleanup time for Eddie Mantinzo after a water main break filled the backyard of the home he is renting with a few inches of water. The flooding forced him to load up some of his belongings to avoid damage. "We're going to have to do everything because it's going to get black mold. The house is old, the foundation is soaked, a lot of our new furniture and stuff got ruined," said Matinzo.

The pipeline break happened Thursday morning on Lola Avenue,

leaving a huge puddle in the middle of the street and more than a dozen homes around it without running water. "No water. No water and I believe it won't be any water today, maybe tomorrow," said Danette Alonzo, no running water.

Not the kind of day Alonzo, a mother of five, thought she would have. "I'm about to go to the store to buy some water jugs, because we can't flush our toilets and the kids will be home soon."

Bud Tickel with the city of Fresno's water division said a contractor digging in this lot struck a six inch pipe causing around 20 to 30 gallons of water to spill. His department is now investigating whether the construction crew had the green light to dig. "Right now it is unknown for sure, but, they have to mark or call for USA prior to digging, but we're not sure on that."

One thing that is certain, neighbors want everything to back to the way it was. "Hopefully, soon, we'll have some water," said Alonzo.

And before 3:00 p.m. Alonzo's wish came true.