A crew doing maintenance on Boston Common Monday morning caused a water main leak that triggered a full-fledged geyser, spouting water high above the park in dramatic fashion for more than an hour.
Gina DeNapoli, a spokeswoman for the Boston Water and Sewer Commission, said workers were doing routine fixes and checking for leaks when the plume erupted around 9:30 a.m.
“This was a high-pressure pipe, so that’s why it caused this shooting of water,” she said, adding that she did not have more information.
Photos and videos from the scene quickly spread on social media as passersby speculated about what might have happened (and whether such a fountain might actually add a picturesque touch to one of the city’s most famous parks).
DeNapoli said the water was shut off at about 11 a.m. and did not cause disruptions for businesses or residents. She said she was waiting for additional information about exactly what happened from crews at the scene.
“They think it’s going to be pretty quick to repair this,” she said.
Liam Hefferman, a sophomore at Emerson College, said he could see the geyser from the ninth floor of a classroom building around 9:38 a.m. When class ended, he dashed outside to get a closer look.
“I was in class and I looked out the window and I saw it shooting up into the sky. I said ‘What the hell is that?’ ” he said. “I could see the top of it clearly over the trees in the Common, and it had a big cloud of mist it was kicking up. It looked like someone had set off the biggest fog machine in the world.”
Hefferman said that when he asked a worker what had happened, they told him they “broke a valve.”