Crews Pull SUV Out Of Sinkhole
SHERIDAN, Colo. (CBS4) - Work crews in Sheridan used heavy equipment to pull an SUV out a sinkhole on Wednesday. It got sucked into the hole on Tuesday during a strong rainstorm.
The sinkhole formed on Oxford Avenue near the intersection with Sante Fe Drive and was about three lanes wide.
The driver was able to make it out of the SUV right before her car was surrounded by asphalt and water.
Crews spent Wednesday morning making the hole larger so they could try to get the car out. Eventually they'll get to repairing the broken water pipe that led to the collapse in the street.
Three years ago, a sinkhole in nearly the same spot swallowed Sheridan Police Sgt. Greg Miller's police cruiser.
He was there on Tuesday as the recent sinkhole started to form, warning drivers, including the 28-year-old driver who abandoned her car before it disappeared.
The pipe that caused this sinkhole to fill up with water is used for stormwater drainage.
Miller says he hopes the repairs this time will keep the road from sinking.
"Something needs to be done before because we don't want to see a fatality," said Miller.
The driver of the SUV was unharmed, but when CBS4's Jamie Leary asked him if he was close to dying years ago, he reponded, "Yeah, yeah I was."
Miller said engineers will begin walking the drain, physically inside of it all the way to the Platte River, to inspect it for defects.
Oxford Avenue was closed in the area just west of Santa Fe while repairs take place.
Nearby business owners CBS4 talked to said they still have full use of their utilities and want people to know that they are open for business.
CBS4 reached out to the City of Englewood, which owns the storm drain. CBS4 is still waiting to hear back with regard to a cause of the break and a timeline on repair.