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# Broken hydrant floods Pico Boulevard, forces evacuation of CLARE rehab center
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/water-logged/
- Published: 2002-06-28T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:24:04.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: local, Pico, #archive-import

Scott Berry/Special to the Daily Press The Santa Monica Fire Department and the city’s water crew work frantically to shut down a fire hydrant on Pico Boulevard and 10th Street on Wednesday while thousands of gallons of water gushed into nearby buildings and onto the street. At about 6:45 p.m., a car struck the hydrant after it was involved in a collision with another vehicle. The hydrant broke off and struck a woman’s foot while she was waiting at a nearby bus stop, said fire department spokeswoman Jill Barnes. She was transported to Santa Monica Hospital with minor injuries. It took about two hours to shut the water off, which at times sprayed 40 feet into the air, Barnes said. That proved to be problematic for CLARE, an outpatient rehabilitation center, because more than a foot of water gathered on top of the building’s roof.The building was evacuated for fear that the roof would collapse, Barnes said. The fire department first tried to park a fire engine over the broken hydrant in an effort to block the gushing water, but officials feared the pressure would be too much for the emergency vehicle. A backhoe was then brought in while crews tried to turn the water off, officials said. Crews had a difficult time shutting the water off because so much debris had gathered around the valve that they couldn’t get the proper tools below the street. Finally, crews brought in a special piece of equipment that had a hose attached to it, which sucked up the debris so crews could access the valve.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/062802-05_02.jpg)

(Photo: Scott Berry/Special)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 28, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/062802.pdf?ref=smdp.com)