About 30 families in East Fort Worth lost their water for hours Wednesday night when a water main break flooded the streets, while first responders trying to fix the problem wound up in a mess of their own.
When a neighborhood disaster went from bad to worse, all residents could do was stare.
"I'm like, 'Man, that is a wreck I don't want to call dad about,'" said Kathryn Kroll, president of the Brentwood Oak Hills Neighborhood Association. "You know, 'Dad I wrecked the truck.'"
Fort Worth firefighters were responding to a water main break and shutting down valves on Canterbury Circle when a sinkhole opened up right under the engine.
"He just felt it go down real slowly, nothing he could do at that point," said James McAmis of the Fort Worth Fire Department.
Getting the engine back out of the hole was a tall task, and it left lingering damage. Neighbor Oliver Flores has new cracks in his driveway and he's worried about his foundation.
"Who's going to be responsible for this? Definitely!" Flores said.
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The water department said the lines in the neighborhood date back to 1955 and likely cracked from age or shifting soil. They'll replace a big chunk, but neighbors worry it'll just happen again.
"We need better water pipes because this is now the third sink hole on this street within the year, according to everybody in the neighborhood," Kroll said.
As crews finally freed the trapped engine, talk on the streets was all about what's happening below them.
The fire department said it didn't know how much it would cost to repair their engine.
