“All of a sudden it blew!” Water shoots up three stories high near Prudential

BOSTON — A water main break in a busy area of Boston’s Back Bay caused a major mess Wednesday night as water shot up three stories high.

What looked like a fountain of water spewed up into the air for nearly thirty minutes on Huntington Avenue in between Harcourt Street and Ring Road.

The incident turned into a spectacle as people gathered near the water main break to see it for themselves.

A rush of water poured down Huntington Avenue and a portion of Harcourt Street through the evening commute, and a nearby entrance to the Mass Pike was briefly blocked off.

Several feet of water flooded the parking garage underneath the Copley Marriott.

“I saw a small leak and called 911 as it got stronger and stronger,” said Colin DiGuiseppe, who works at Copley Place. “All of a sudden it blew!”

Witnesses also saw debris shooting up from the hole in the concrete where the water was coming from and was concerned that someone could get hurt.

“It looked like a literal monsoon outside,” said Bridget Lindstrom, a manager at Jaho Coffee. “It was insane.”

Lindstrom told Boston 25 News she watched the wall of water pour down outside her business and braced for it to flood.

“It was six feet from the door, and then three feet. I was like, oh no, it’s getting worse,” recalled Lindstrom. “It felt like it was an actual hurricane outside. It was even worse than the blizzard last weekend.”

Crews were able to turn down the pressure by 6:30 p.m. but water continued bubbling up for at least another hour.

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission anticipates that the inbound stretch of Huntington Avenue between West Newton and Harcourt may be shut down through the morning commute.

“We’ll dig. We’ll find out what’s wrong. We’ll replace it, and do roadway restoration,” said Tom Bagley with the Boston Water and Sewer Commission.

Bagley believes the break involves either a 12-inch line or a 20-inch line.

“We really won’t know until we dig,” he added. “We’re going to be working through the night here.”

Boston Water and Sewer Commission said there were no reported water service interruptions.

Boston 25 News spoke with one couple on Harcourt Street who said the water in their apartment building was temporarily shut off.

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