Sinkhole partially swallows a Spokane recycling truck
Feb 10, 2024, 10:10 AM | Updated: 10:56 am
A sinkhole partially swallowed a garbage truck in Spokane on Friday, Feb. 10, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Garrett Cabeza/@CabezaGarrett on X, formerly known as Twitter)
(Photo courtesy of Garrett Cabeza/@CabezaGarrett on X, formerly known as Twitter)
This is not something you see every day.
A City of Spokane recycling truck got swallowed by a sinkhole within city limits Friday.
According several media outlets in the Spokane area, including KREM 2, crews responded to the area of S. Laura Street between E. Newark Avenue and East 8th Avenue around 7:30 a.m.
The Spokesman-Review in Spokane reports the driver was on a normal route for curbside services when the truck stopped to pick up a recycling cart.
From there, the asphalt gave way underneath, causing the front of the truck to fall into a hole.
The Spokane outlet said a tow truck removed the truck from the hole and drove it away. The driver was not injured in the incident.
From 2022: WSDOT closes parts of I-405 to repair ’15-foot-deep sinkhole’
A spokesperson told The Spokesman-Review a water main break in a 6-inch cast iron pipe is believed to be the cause of the buckling of the street, adding that the pipes in the area were installed in 1935.
When the main broke, it washed away the dirt and gravel underneath the asphalt, causing it to weaken and collapse when the truck was there.
Crews fixed the water main and didn’t find any problems with the sewer system, the outlet stated. The street was expected to open Friday.
KREM 2 journalist Al Lozano was on the scene and snapped a series of photos of the truck while it was stuck in the sinkhole.
More views and tow truck standing by. @KREM2 @KREMMark Spokane city refuse truck front tires fall into sink hole 8th Ave and Laura behind The Grain Shed pic.twitter.com/9LXjw8k9yB
— althepal530 (@althepal530) February 9, 2024
Contributing: Steve Coogan
