A prank that Bellevue police and M.U.D. are not laughing about - early Friday morning somebody opened a fire hydrant that spilled water for nearly an hour while it was 2 degrees below zero outside.
Just before 5 a.m. Bellevue police found a fire hydrant spraying thousands of gallons of water near 17th and Hogantown, casting a sheet of ice across the street, through a fence into a yard.
Police are looking for those responsible for the prank that could have created an extremely dangerous situation.
"You have to understand that this is a public safety device,” said Gene Siadek, M.U.D. director of water distribution. “It's there to fight a fire. It's there for a purpose, to protect the neighborhood.”
Siadek oversees the area's 26,000 fire hydrants.
"It is a big deal,” Siadek said. “Anytime you touch one of these devices, they're meant for one purpose: to fight fires.”
The hydrant spilled about 1,500 gallons per minute and took nearly an hour to shut off.
"The first danger, obviously, is the ice that forms and the traffic hazards that formed,” he said.
While the sheets of ice sprayed from the hydrant didn't hurt anyone, this Bellevue police officer says it could have been a disaster.
"It could cause pipes to burst under the city, under the streets,” said Officer Nick Greiner. “It could also cause flooding in people's basements, if you have children living in a basement bedroom or someone elderly it could easily endanger their safety."
Officer Greiner has a message for those responsible:
"Think twice next time before doing something like this,” he said. “Understand that we're looking for you. We're going to find you."
M.U.D. encourages anyone who sees a faulty fire hydrant to call their 24-hour emergency number, 402-554-7777.
