Puyallup family, business left with costly repairs after hit-and-run hydrant flood

PUYALLUP, Wash. — The City of Puyallup said it will not help a family and a local business that were impacted by a flooding caused by a hit-and-run crash involving a fire hydrant. The city is pointing the finger at the driver to clean up the mess.

Violet and Robert Lantz said their basement had more than four feet of water on July 29 after a semi-truck turned right on Milwaukee Avenue East, near Valley Avenue East, and knocked over a sign and ran over a fire hydrant, causing water to spew out and flood parts of the intersection.

As of Monday, the driver has yet to be identified.

Their insurance covered parts of the structural damage, and initially said they would not cover the family’s personal items, including furniture, electronics, tools, baby items, etc., stored in the basement.

However, there is an update. On Aug. 20 KIRO 7 learned the insurance company had reversed their decision and now say they will cover a portion of the family’s personal property after seeing our story.

“We are grateful for what they have covered, but it’s really sad to know that we lost, we literally lost everything and we’re not going to get a chance to replace that right now,” she said.

“We lost food that we had down here. If we’re going to pay other people, that’s money out of our pockets that could’ve been used for food. That could be used for clothes for kids going back to school, back to school supplies,” she added.

Robert Lantz said the fire hydrant was originally placed near the intersection of Milwaukee Avenue East and Valley Avenue East, which is known for crashes due to the small roadways and the number of semi-trucks traveling through the area.

The city told his family it’s not responsible for any of the damage and is pointing the finger at the driver, who’s still on the run, Robert told KIRO 7 News.

Since the crash, the City of Puyallup has moved the fire hydrant about 100 feet south of its original location.

“Clearly, they moved it,” Robert said. “Doesn’t make any sense to me. If they’re not at fault. Why did they need it to be moved 30 or 40 feet away from the intersection where it was knocked over at? If they weren’t at fault, it would be at the same spot, you would think.”

“If the fire hydrant was here (new location) to begin with, this would have never happened,” he said.

Amanda Faille, whose business, Rainier Valley Coffee Co., was also flooded, said that she has not received support from the city in the last three weeks.

“The only thing I have heard is that they were going to come and clean up my parking lot and they never came and cleaned up our parking lot. I had to pay somebody to come and clean up all the sediments up. No one has reached out to me,” she said.

KIRO 7 News reached out to the City of Puyallup to get its response.

A spokesperson said the city does not clean up private property, adding that any cleanup would need to be done by the property owner.

The city said the semi-truck driver is responsible for the damage, adding “That is why it is important that we locate the driver and hold them accountable.”

“Yes, we moved the hydrant 100 feet to the south of the previous location. We did that out of an abundance of caution to protect it from getting damaged in the future.”

We asked the city if it believes the original location posed any risks. We’re still waiting to hear back.

If you have any details about the driver, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is asking you to call Crime Stoppers at 1(800)222-TIPS.

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