SOUTH STRABANE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A sinkhole off Oak Spring Road is 25 feet by 25 feet and 16 feet deep. While the construction crew was working on fixing the hole, it continued to cave.
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Madelyne Spotloe was driving by the area and couldn’t believe her eyes. She said, “I think that’s crazy how deep it is. I mean, that’s insane. That’s deeper than a swimming pool.”
Eat’n Park was ready for Father’s Day when Saturday night’s rains caused a major hole right in its entranceway. Now, the restaurant is without gas or water until Tuesday.
“Could it expand...Like, who knows? I don’t know, it’s crazy,” said Spotloe
Crews said the fix will take about a week.
Just down the road, the South Strabane Fire Department experienced its own damage caused by the same stream of water.
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Chief Jordan Cramer told Channel 11 that the same water pressure that caused the sinkhole caused what’s happening in their parking lot.
Ponding was created after a pipe underneath the lot was crushed. Now, fire trucks, which are up to 30 to 60 thousand pounds, can no longer travel on top of the pavement safely.
“We had a few inches of water that came through,” said Chief Jordan Cramer with South Strabane Township Fire and Emergency Services. “It was the first time that had ever happened in probably 30 years. I didn’t even know that that was possible because of the way that this building sits.”
Chief Cramer said his crews were out saving flood victims from cars and houses until 4 o’clock in the morning.
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“Just a lot of things that were going on at the same time within one municipality, where those are some difficult instances to respond to on a regular day, let alone also simultaneously,” said Chief Cramer.
Now their crews are working to make sure they can respond to emergencies, as even more rain is expected to move through the area this week.
The station experienced extensive damage. Chief Cramer said his next step is to try and receive additional funding from the state.
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