Dunsmuir High School closes, about 100 homes go without water Monday
Jessica Skropanic
About 100 homes and Dunsmuir High School were without water on Sunday night and Monday while the city replaced a water storage device.
The water was turned off along Dunsmuir Avenue from Stagecoach Road to Willow Street starting at 10 p.m. Sunday night, City Manager Dustin Rief said. The turnoff also affected communities to the west of Dunsmuir Avenue: from the high school and the Oak Willow Street connection road, down to Dunsmuir Avenue.
"We're in the middle of a water improvement project," including installing one of two new water tanks in the city," Rief said. The tank is located near the high school.
The water should be back on by noon, barring any leaks or other problems, Rief said. The replacement project will wrap up soon.
The new tank will be larger than the decades-old tank, he said. The old tank doesn't have the capacity or pressure needed for fire suppression, or to provide enough pressure to serve Dunsmuir homes with water.
Work, which continued overnight into Monday morning, is taking longer than estimated, Rief said: "Unfortunately, we had to shut off more portions of the line than we expected."
Dunsmuir High School closes
Classes were canceled at Dunsmuir High School due to lack of water, the Dunsmuir Joint Union High School District announced Monday morning.
The school district issued a notice before 7 a.m. that the school had no water. At the time, district officials estimated the school would reopen by 10 a.m., but that didn't pan out.
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"Because of an issue with the City of Dunsmuir Water system, the school has no water and will not be in session," Dunsmuir Joint Union High School District announced at 9:15 a.m. Monday.
Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and entertainment stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.