FRIDAY 4:30 P.M. UPDATE: City officials have lifted the boil water advisory. Water samples taken from various parts of La Pine show no signs of contamination.
The Deschutes County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate the crash off of Finley Butte Road, which caused the water main break and subsequent problems. Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call investigators through dispatch at 541-693-6911.
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Thursday, 2 P.M.:
LA PINE, OR -- A suspected hit and run has shut off the water supply to the entire city of La Pine. City Manager Rick Allen says residents and businesses are urged to take immediate precautions. "We are under a boil water alert, so people need to boil water before they drink it or have bottled water. We’d like people to stop watering, basically conserve water all they can until we can get the full water system back up and operating."
Allen says, "There was a car accident, well basically, a hit and run at some point at our water supply a few miles east of La Pine. They hit a fire hydrant, which then broke our water main and they didn’t know it until someone went out there. La Pine only has one water main, one water source coming into the city. So, when that’s shut down, it impacts the entire city."
He says the boil order is likely to remain in effect for several days, while they test to make sure no contaminants made it into the system. "The greatest threat, of course, is when you have a break, dirt from around the water where the break is, things can get into the line so you can end up with a little color in your water. And, you just need people to be aware of that and make sure to boil water in case any contamination got in. We will, obviously, be doing a lot of testing on that over the next couple of days. And, we’ll notify people, when that threat is no longer out there."
The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the crash, which occurred either Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
FRIDAY A.M. UPDATE: Water flow has been restored, however users are asked to continue boiling any drinking water - including for cooking, brushing teeth, cleaning food, etc.
