A construction accident sent 1 million gallons of water rushing down Boot Hill into the parking lot and roadways around the Snow Creek Shopping Center Tuesday.
Park City Public Utilities Director Clint McAfee is asking the public to avoid the area, which also houses The Market grocery store and the State Liquor Store, as crews clean up mud, water and debris. The water stopped flowing Tuesday evening after the entire tank had been emptied.
There are two water tanks on top of Boot Hill. One holds double the amount of the smaller tank.
Because of the location of the break, McAffee says crews couldn’t immediately turn the water off – so they isolated the larger 2 million-gallon tank to keep it in service.
McAffee says the entire water department and members of the fire department worked to divert the water toward the storm drains.
Dirt and debris flowed off the hillside into the parking lot as water rose above the tires of some parked cars. The Baby Nee Nee shop was the most threatened by water due to its location, which is at a lower level than other shops in the center. Firefighters quickly arranged more than 100 sand bags and manually shoveled water away from the storefront.
This is a developing story. KPCW will have more information as it becomes available.