Photo: Busted Fire Hydrant at Pittsburg City Hall

Here is a photograph from Pittsburg Councilman Ben Johnson who captured this shot this morning at Pittsburg City Hall of a busted fire hydrant that is sending water throughout the parking lot.  According to Councilman Johnson, someone miscalculated their turn and created this gusher providing a lot of water in a real hurry .

Thanks Ben for the shot!

In speaking with Vince Wells, Local 1230 President of the Contra Costa Professional Firefighters, he explained that a broken hydrant can put out up to 1,000 gallons per minute. What the firefighters will do in this situation is track down the valve typically on the street and shut it off as quickly as possible noting that this time of the year, the water is col.  After that, the firefighters are hands off and the water company will step in and officially shut off the water to do the repairs.