Water pipe bursts, flooding several homes in Sandy

SANDY — Several homeowners are cleaning up their homes after a water pipe to a fire hydrant burst early Monday, sending water rushing into their basements near 3200 E. Bell Canyon Road.

"We've got two homes with water in the window wells, and it's seeping into the basement from the window wells. One has a few inches; the other has a few more,” Sandy Fire Battalion Chief Annette Woodhead said. "(The water pipe) certainly could have frozen, looks like the hydrant is intact.”

Firefighters rushed to wake homeowners, who then tried their best to keep the water from entering their homes.

"I checked my basement. The carpet was dry, but the garage was flooded and my driveway was completely flooded. (It) had about 4-5 inches of water in it, and water was flowing right past the house and through the yard," Sandy resident Chris Root said. “(I am) just shoveling snow and slush and trying to create a path for the water to flow away from the house.”

Root's garage took on about 6 inches of water, but it didn't get in the house. Instead it created an ice rink in his driveway. His neighbor Fred Belk wasn't as fortunate.

“It just filled up this whole window well,” Belk said. “It was just full of water, and it was streaming down.”

For 45 minutes, water poured into Belk's home Monday morning. Fire officials estimate damage to his home at about $25,000.

The third home impacted by the flooding had several inches of water in the basement and suffered around $35,000 in damage.

“I guess we didn't get enough bad luck this year. They want to throw it in on the last day,” Belk said.

The homeowners said Sandy officials have promised them that they will do everything they can to make the situation right.