IRONWOOD, MI - Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - City crewmembers Sammy Fontecchio, Mike Lampart, Chuck Thomas and Bill Olkonen were called out to a water main break along US-2 this morning. The break is located on the 400 block of Cloverland Drive between the Ironwood Laundromat and the Crestview Motel.

The crew dug out a section of the street and began searching for the leak this morning. When the Chronicle arrived on the scene, the crew had just located the break and were about to send a man down into the pit to make the repair. There is no way to shut off the water supply, one of the lucky four crewmen had to crawl down and attach what is called a Handi-Band, "on the fly" over the broken main.

According to Utilities Director Bob Tervonen, MDOT was in town today, and they were helpful in locating the source of the break and they offered advice on patching the road's surface after the repair is complete. Tervonen complimented the crew for the outstanding job the do throughout the year. He said as soon as the break is repaired the same crewmembers will have time to get out of their saturated clothing just in time to be called out again to plow the City streets.