Water main breaks, sinkhole opens in Olney street

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- An Olney street is closed for repairs after a water main break on Tuesday morning, according to the Philadelphia Water Department.

Traffic was being diverted around East Fisher Avenue and Water Street.

Roughly 30 nearby properties lost water service.

"Basically this side of the street don't have water," said neighbor Ivan Battle.

Neighbors woke up around 2 a.m.

"I heard this loud noise, and apparently it was a car going inside of the hole and coming out," said neighbor Aja Ingram.

Some rushed to move their cars.

"I come downstairs, and the water was to my ankles. So I hurried up, jumped in my car, there was a car coming down speeding because they couldn't see the hole in the street, so it swerved- almost hit me in the car. So I got in hurried up and moved the car," said neighbor Star King.

Water poured across Fisher. As morning broke, crews switched the water off.

Neighbors said a sinkhole there has opened up before, and they want a permanent fix.

"It will go away, cars keeps going over it. It will sink again. They gotta come out and fill up the hole again. It really needs to be fixed because when you look at it when the buses were going over - it was shaking the ground," said King.

"I just want it to get fixed. There's a school right here. There's about to be traffic with the school and the parents, and I just hope it gets fixed because it can cause a lot of traffic, a lot of accidents. We don't want anyone getting hurt," stated Ingram.

As for nearby Olney Elementary, there was no interruption in water service, and school was in session.