Costa Mesa street floods after water main breaks

April 26, 2016 4:55 PM PT

A residential Costa Mesa street was flooded late Sunday after an underground water main broke.

The main burst about 10:30 p.m., causing between 16,000 and 20,000 gallons of potable water to bubble up to the pavement near Baker and Milbro streets, Mesa Water District and Fire Department authorities said.

Authorities were forced to shut down Milbro, a small residential street in the Mesa del Mar neighborhood, and one lane of Baker while crews from Mesa Water cut into the street to repair the pipe and control the flooding.

The district shut off water to the area about 11:30 p.m., leaving some 20 homes on Milbro without water until 7 a.m. Monday.

Officials said the water flowed onto driveways and up to the garages of some homes. No permanent damage was reported.

The leak came from a two-foot rupture along the side of a six-inch pipe, said Stacy Taylor, Mesa Water’s public and government affairs manager.

The cause of the leak is unknown, Taylor said.

Mesa Water General Manager Paul Shoenberger noted that “because Mesa Water crews quickly respond to leaks, the district’s annual water loss averages 4.5%, which is extremely low based on industry standards.”

Hannah Fry

Hannah Fry covers breaking news for the Los Angeles Times. She most recently covered Orange County for The Times and has written extensively about criminal trials, housing, politics and government. In 2020, Fry was part of the team that was a Pulitzer finalist for its coverage of a boat fire that killed 34 people off the coast of Santa Barbara. Fry came to The Times from the Daily Pilot, where she covered coastal cities, education and crime. An Orange County native, Fry started her career as an intern at the Orange County Register.

Bradley Zint

Bradley Zint left Times Community News in 2018. He was a general assignment reporter for the Daily Pilot, where he worked since 2010. At the Pilot, he also was a copy editor, classical music columnist and reporter covering Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. He previously worked in Hermosa Beach, Long Beach, Alaska and Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach, where he served as editor-in-chief of its campus newspaper, the Daily 49er.