Easthampton Police and the city's Department of Public Works were called to Franklin Street, near its intersection with Oak Street, for a car that sunk into a hole caused by a water main break.
Easthampton Police and the city's Department of Public Works were called to Franklin Street, near its intersection with Oak Street, for a car that sunk into a hole caused by a water main break. Credit: SUBMITTED PHOTO


EASTHAMPTON – A vehicle almost sunk into a four foot hole following a water main break Sunday morning, according to police.

The Department of Public Works was called to repair a water main break on Franklin Street, near the intersection of Oak Street, around 7:15 a.m., according to a post on the Easthampton Police Department’s Facebook page.

The road was closed from Briggs to Maple Streets until around 1 p.m.

In the post, police wrote that an adult male driver went through what they thought was a puddle when the front of the vehicle sank into the ground.

The man was able to exit the car safely and call for help. The vehicle’s front bumper kept it from sinking into the large portion of the hole. 

Ernie’s Towing was able to remove the vehicle and it suffered only minor bumper damage, according to a Facebook post. The DPW crew spent the rest of the day repairing the line.

While crews were working on repairs, some residents near the break were without water, according to Easthampton Police Officer Edward Murray.

Also during that time, the city’s public works department advised residents who noticed their water to be brown in color to run the cold water until it cleared.