[Press Release] : Columbia firefighters busy downtown and on the interstate

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Duty - Public Information Officer - (573) 499-7035 

Columbia firefighters busy downtown and on the interstate

COLUMBIA, MO (September 12, 2008) - Columbia firefighters were called
at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 12, to 701 E Broadway, the Daniel Boone
Building (City Hall) for a report of water in the basement. Firefighters
found that heavy rains had collected in the excavation pit where the
addition to the building is being constructed and water was finding its
way into the room which houses the phone equipment. Water in the
excavation pit was several feet deep. Information Technology (IT)
personnel were on the scene using wet-vacs to remove the water in the
phone room which was less then an inch deep. It was apparent however,
that if the water in the excavation pit was not removed, the problem of
water leaking into the phone equipment room would continue and become
worse. 

Firefighters worked with IT, Public Works and the contractor K&S
Construction to begin pumping water from the excavation pit area. The
Columbia Fire Department used three "Prosser" pumps, two which pump
around 100 gallons per minute and one which pumps around 250 gallons per
minute. In addition, a gasoline-powered pump capable of pumping close to
350 gallons per minute was brought from the fire training facility and
placed in service. The contractors, K&S, brought in two gasoline-powered
pumps and were bringing in more later today. Within an hour, the water
level in the excavation pit was down to several inches and with the rain
subsiding, the water was completely removed for the most part.

Columbia firefighters from the Basic Recruit School, which began
Monday, were then brought to the scene to assist in building a sandbag
wall to prevent expected heavy rains this weekend from entering the
telephone equipment room. The Office of Emergency Management delivered
about 2,000 sandbags to the site around 10:30 a.m. The Street Division
of the Public Works Department delivered sand and a sandbag filling
machine to the site around the same time. 

Seven recruit firefighters then began the process of filling sandbags
and constructing the wall. Around 2:30 p.m., the sandbag wall was
completed and firefighters began to clear the scene. The contractor,
K&S, will have pumps on hand this weekend and monitor the situation. 

At about 8:15 a.m., Columbia firefighters were called to the 123.3 mile
marker in the westbound lanes of I-70 for a report of a crash. The 123
mile marker is just east of the Sorrels overpass. Firefighters
encountered an overturned semitrailer which had spilled its load of
silica sand on both westbound lanes, closing the highway. Firefighters
determined there were no injuries although several vehicles were
involved. MoDOT dispatched crews to clean up the sand, and a local
towing company had its hands full as the rear wheels of the trailer had
been damaged enough that they had to be removed from the trailer before
the trailer could be loaded on a flatbed truck and removed. MoDOT
completed clearing the sand from the highway and the highway was
reopened shortly before noon. Law enforcement reported that traffic was
backed up to the 63 connector on I-70 at one point. 

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