FARMINGTON — Workers continued a “massive cleanup” Sunday at TD Bank in downtown Farmington after a water main break Friday night filled the bank’s cellar and went into other businesses along Main Street.

Farmington Fire and Rescue and Farmington Water were called out shortly after 1 a.m. when an eight-inch water line in the alley between the bank and Mainestone Jewelry broke, Deputy Chief Tim Hardy said Sunday.

Water pressure created turbulence, loosening the back cellar wall of the bank made of stone and masonry, Deputy Chief Clyde Ross said. Being a porous wall, about three feet of silt and sand poured into the basement with the water.

Once the water was pumped out, there was a “beach in the basement” left, he said.

Silt can be seen on the sidewalk around the bank on the corner of Main Street and Broadway, where it seeped from the top of the foundation.

When the Fire Department arrived, the cellar was full and water was running over the main floor and out the front door, Hardy said.

An unknown number of gallons of water gushed from the broken main overflowing into the basement of the bank, and then into Trask Jewelry, Tranten’s grocery store and the building that formerly housed Farmington Oil and then the Sun Journal office, Ross said. This last building, owned by William Marceau, had a sump pump that took care of the water. 

Trask Jewelry had in excess of five feet of water in the basement, Ross said. Both the bank and jewelry store were closed Saturday.

Water went into Tranten’s, but nothing was stored in the basement, he said. The Fire Department pumped water from the basements for about 10 hours, until nearly 11 a.m. Saturday morning, he said.

“It was a massive cleanup,” Ross said of the damage to the businesses. 

The amount of damage is unknown, although Ross said the bank lost everything that was in the basement.

Farmington Village Corp. and a crew from E.L. Vining fixed the water main break Saturday, but a Ted Berry Co. crew continued vacuuming sand and silt from the bank basement on Sunday, he said.

Two large Dumpsters filled with materials from the bank sit on Broadway, as the road was limited to one-way traffic on both days.

The Water Department was called out again Saturday night, when water was reported to be spurting out of the road at the corner of Perham and Quebec streets, about a couple blocks from the water main break. This is expected to be fixed on Monday. The cause or whether it’s connected, Ross said he did not know. Some customers on Perham did report no water on Saturday, he said.

This is the second time in less than a month that the Fire Department has helped downtown businesses with water issues. About two weeks ago, a sprinkler system in Church Street Commons broke, flooding ceilings, insulation and floors in that building, which is on the next block. Crews are still cleaning up the damage caused there, Ross said.

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