A T-Mobile building in Los Angeles was seen partially caving in after it was flooded by a sheared fire hydrant on Sunday afternoon.
The L.A. City Fire Department said it received a call just before 3 p.m. for reports of a truck crashing into a hydrant on the corner of West Nordhoff Street and Sepulveda Boulevard.
Officials did not immediately say what caused the driver to veer off and hit the hydrant, but KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff was later informed that it was a hit-and-run.
Footage from the scene showed water gushing high into the air from the hydrant, and crews arrived to find severe water damage in a nearby, one-story commercial building.
Due to a large amount of water falling onto the roof of the T-Mobile, LAFD said “the structural integrity of the building is compromised.”
Videos from Citizen.com showed water, wires and panels falling from the ceiling. Several inches of water filled the floor of the T-Mobile building, flowing under the tables holding up the phone and technology displays.
Meanwhile, footage from outside the T-Mobile showed significant cracks splitting across the top of the building, causing a corner of the ceiling to cave in.
The Los Angeles Police Department said a “Help Call” was generated at the location at some point, requesting additional units to respond for crowd control.
T-Mobile released the following statement Sunday evening regarding the incident:
“We’re grateful that our employees and customers are safe. The store is closed, and our team is working quickly on next steps to make sure customers in the area have access to what they need. In the meantime, there are a few other stores in the nearby (just north on Devonshire and Sepulveda along with one at Van Nuys and Chase St.) that can help customers. We do have a store locator on our T-Mobile website here if that helps people find an immediate option close to them.“
LAFD said no injuries were reported.