Howard Road Flooded by Solo Vehicle Crash

19-Year-Old Driver Shears Off Fire Hydrant, Floods Howard Road. 

By DJ Becker/The Madera News November 1st, 2024

A white 2020 Mustang, driven by a 19-year-old Madera man slammed into a fire hydrant as he pulled away from the light, reportedly doing burnouts at Pine Street about 9 AM on Friday. 

According to Madera police, the driver, Albert Virgen Rodriguez, of Madera, had charges of unsafe speed and reckless driving in the crash forwarded to the DA’s office. Officers retrieved surveillance video from the scene and witnesses provided police with statements about the incident. They told police the Mustang was speeding, skidded and drifted out of control before jumping the curb and striking the fire hydrant head-on. No injuries were reported in the crash.

The impact sheared off the fire hydrant at the northeast corner of Rotan Avenue releasing many hundreds of gallons of water per minute and flooding the north side of Howard Road all the way west to Schnoor Avenue. The running water was reported as far as the Starbucks parking lot adjacent to Schnoor. Some of the businesses on Howard Road were without water but continued to operate. Most of the nearby restaurants reportedly closed about midday, according to witnesses.

Public works employees struggled to locate a shutoff valve in the 50-year-old waterline. Some adjacent businesses lost water pressure and others closed for the day. This is a developing incident. Please check back for updates.

A Madera Public Works employee floats and swims to try and locate the area of the blown-out waterline below the pavement after it was struck and sheared off by the Mustang. The fire hydrant, pictured above, was found across the street from the force of the impact.

As of 6 pm, water was still flowing out the hydrant according to City Manager Arnoldo Rodriguez, with the time of complete repair still unknown. Public Works employees opened adjacent hydrants to reduce the pressure on the 8 inch water line, which was broken off and flooding underneath the pavement, he said. Crews were maneuvering a replacement pipe and hydrant into place about dark.

Photos by DJ Becker / The Madera News