19 homes in Fresno High area without water after pipe break

Nineteen homes in the Fresno High area were left without water Thursday morning after a water pipe ruptured overnight.

Residents in the 200 block of East Princeton Avenue awoke to find a flooded street after the six-inch cast iron pipe broke when it was crushed by roots from a large tree in a backyard, according to Bud Tickel, assistant director of Public Utilities for the City of Fresno.

That the water line was in the backyard of the home is somewhat unusual for the city, said Tickel, but it is not a rare location. The roots of the tree were apparently searching for water when they broke through the pipe. City workers were on scene excavating the line and the residents would not be able to turn on their taps until about noon, Tickel estimated.