Crime & Safety

Car Crashes Into Greer Ranch Hydrant, Lands on Side

The driver of a silver Honda Accord was briefly trapped inside her car after the vehicle sheared a fire hydrant.

A damaged fire hydrant sent water gushing nearly 100 feet into the night air Friday following a car crash in a gated Murrieta community.

The impact of the crash—which occurred at about 11:15 p.m.—caused a silver Honda Accord to land on its side on Greer Road just past Orchid Tree Avenue.

The driver was trapped inside.

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Murrieta fire Capt. Dan Lopez said he and another firefighter pulled the driver to safety. She was not injured, he said.

Water gushed down Greer Road and it took two Murrieta fire crews more than 30 minutes to stop the flow of water from the hydrant.

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The cause of the crash was unclear. Details could not immediately be confirmed with Murrieta police, who were on scene directing traffic and interviewing the driver.

Greer Ranch resident Brian Kuvshinikov said he lives just above Greer Road and heard the crash from inside his home.

"I immediately went out into my balcony and that is when I contacted the front gate," Kuvshinikov said. "I have a lot of trees but I could see the water coming up and I saw the car on its side."

Murrieta fire Battalion Chief Steve Kean said when he arrived, the driver had already been pulled from the car.

"The car bounced off the curb and hit the hydrant," he said.

He estimated 3,000 to 5,000 gallons of water per minute spewed out of the hydrant before the engine crews were able to squelch it.

"It was hard to see with water falling on them," Kean said. "They had to chip the valve out from the street to turn it off."

Although it was nearly midnight by that time, Kean said the responsible water department had been notified and was due out at the scene.


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