Section of busy Ross Township road reopens after truck strikes fire hydrant

ROSS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — UPDATE 5:29 AM 6/2/23: Rochester Road appears to be open.

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ORIGINAL STORY: A broken fire hydrant sent water flying dozens of feet into the air along Rochester Road in Ross Township Thursday evening.

Neighbors tell Channel 11 a truck struck the hydrant before 6 p.m. The water started as a trickle and eventually turned into a geyser.

“The water is almost all the way to the top of the steps,” Randy Fasenmyer said. Water flooded his basement causing significant damage. “I’m just at a loss for words right now.”

The damage isn’t limited to flooding. A home just feet from that hydrant suffered a broken front window. A Ford Bronco parked in a driveway also lost a window.

“I came home and there’s a big gusher by my house and I’m getting all kinds of texts and calls from family telling me that the window is shattered on my truck and it’s completely flooded,” Douglas Leicher said. “I put $3,000 and seven months of work into it to get it running and driving.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I just need to sleep and think about it,” Fasenmyer said when asked about how he’s wrapping his head around the damage done to his home.

The Red Cross is helping him find a place to stay.

It’s unclear how many homes are dealing with water outages. Channel 11 has reached out to West View Water Authority multiple times but has not gotten a response.

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