Lawsuit: Fire truck broke water main, geyser destroyed house

A Hollywood woman who says a Los Angeles Fire Department truck damaged a leaking water main in February and caused a geyser to destroy the roof of her home as well as damaging or destroying everything inside is suing the city.

Janneke Dommisse’s Los Angeles Superior Court suit alleges negligence, inverse condemnation and dangerous condition on public property and she seeks unspecified damages.

A representative for the City Attorney’s Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Thursday, which contains four color photos of damage to the street and Dommisse’s home.

According to the suit, about 8 p.m. Feb. 2, 2023, the 47-year-old plaintiff saw a large amount of water bubbling up through the asphalt and pooling in the street in front of her Fountain Avenue, home and believes it was due to a defective and unmaintained eight-inch city water main, the suit states. She called the city about 45 minutes later to report the leak, the suit states.

About 20 minutes later, a city fire truck parked across the street from Dommisse’s and the ground beneath its rear wheels sunk, the suit states. While accelerating out of the whole, the truck caused the water main to fully fail, sending out large amounts of water and forcing Dommisse to run inside her home, the suit further states.

However, the plaintiff’s house was “engulfed in a torrent of water” in which drips from the ceilings turned to streams and rivers, prompting Dommisse to call for help, the suit states.

Firefighters, finding Dommisse hiding in a rear room with her dog, grabbed both and dragged them out of the home just as its roof collapsed from the large amount of water that severely damaged or destroyed everything inside, the suit states.

Dommisse has been unable to return to her home and she has suffered severe emotional distress, according to her complaint.