PARIS – A water main break near the fire station on Western Avenue shut down a portion of the road as well as service to some customers Monday night.

The town’s 500,000-gallon reservoir had lost more than half of its water by Monday night, and pressure to fire hydrants was reportedly low.

Paris Utility District Manager Steve Arnold said a leak on top of a small rise was reported by a customer and work to repair it began around 2 p.m.

Lt. Michael Dailey of the Paris Police Department said the flow from the leak had increased around 4 p.m., apparently from the initial work on the break.

“We have no idea what caused it,” Arnold said. “We won’t know anything until we get the line open and get the repair on it.”

Chief Brad Frost of the Paris Fire Department said he observed what looked to be a 4- to 6-foot geyser of water at the site of the break from the fire station. It later subsided into a steady flow down the hill into the station’s front lot, carrying sediment and rocks with it.

The flow washed out a portion of the southbound side of the road. Dailey said he did not know how much the road had been undermined, but traffic was diverted as a precaution. The road was closed at the Nichols Street entrance, and detoured over Pearl Street.

Frost said the 500,000 gallon reservoir on Hooper Ledge Road was down to 200,000 gallons. Water was being pumped from wells into the reservoir, but continued to leak from the main.

“Hopefully they’re building it up faster than they’re losing it,” Dailey said.

The incident brought in workers from the town’s utility district as well as its police, fire and highway departments. Wayne Kennagh and Sons Excavation also responded to the break.

Arnold said the break occurred at an intersection between a 12-inch pipe and a six-inch pipe, and he did not know which was experiencing the problem. He said the 12-inch pipe was put down in the 1970s, while the six-inch pipe was older.

The lines on Western Avenue were shut down, a process that necessitated the excavation of some shutoff valves that had been paved over. As of late Monday, Arnold said he was still attempting to shut down the water flow to the break, but that the repair would not take long once the break was isolated.

A hydrant at the base of the hill was opened in an attempt to drain water covering the pipe at the top of the hill. Later, an earth mover pushed much of the sediment off the road.

Arnold said work on the line directly affected residents along Western Avenue and some side streets, though Dailey said the incident affected a majority of the town.

“I know I haven’t got much pressure throughout the town,” said Frost of the town’s hydrants.

Frost said the fire station did not have any water, and would rely on water shuttling and support from Norway and Oxford in the event of a fire.

At the Market Square Restaurant on Main Street, a sign said the establishment was not serving anything that required water. A waitress who wished to remain anonymous said they first noted problems around 4:30 p.m., and that the water was running brown from the taps. When she tried the water around 8 p.m., however, it was running clearer.

“It was hectic,” she said. “We had to go and get some bottled water.”

She said business did not suffer, because customers whose water was affected came to the restaurant to dine.

Market Square Health Care said its water supply was fine in terms of quality and pressure.

A special town meeting and selectmen’s meeting scheduled at the fire station were moved to the town office due to the break.