‘Cars Were Literally Floating Around': Water Main Break Floods Apartment's Underground Garage

A water main break in Pacific Palisades Sunday evening flooded several streets and an underground parking garage

The break in a 16-inch main was reported at about 8:30 p.m. in the area of Sunset Boulevard and Muskingum Avenue. The pipe was installed in 1939.

Firefighters rescued one person, who was not injured, from the water, according to LAFD. LA County lifeguards assisted with searching the deep water in an underground parking garage to make sure no one was stranded in a submerged vehicle, according to the fire department.

Resident Stephen Ruiz said the garage flooded in about five minutes. 

“The cars were literally floating around inside the garage last night,” said Ruiz, who said he saw rescuers in scuba gear entering the garage. 

The Los Angeles Fire Department says its crews did everything they could to control the flow of water and reduce damage after a large volume of water due to the water main break threatened several apartment buildings. Only one of the apartment buildings has been damaged, fire officials said.

A large volume of water threatened several apartment buildings,'' said the Los Angeles Fire Department's Nicholas Prange.

One building was reported damaged, Prange said.

The cars were literally floating around inside the garage last night.

Resident Stephen Ruiz

"During the early stages of the incident, there were reports of someone in distress in the water,'' Prange said. "LAFD rescued one person from the water, who was uninjured."

The Department of Water and Power worked on shutting the water off. LAFD crews remained at the scene for several hours to help pump water from out of the parking garage and affected apartments.

A shelter-in-place was ordered for affected residents since the parking garage was the most affected, LAFD said. No residents have been displaced.

The cause of the water main break is under investigation.