BORE GOES BOOM: A "rogue" geothermal bore stopped traffic on Lake Rd overnight Thursday. PHOTO/GARY HAMILTON-IRVINE
Geothermal engineers take action to end spectacular eruption
A "rogue" geothermal bore closed parts of Lake Rd after it blew a valve, spraying steam and hot water across two lanes heading into the city.
The bore erupted about 11pm on Thursday, closing three of the road's four lanes until 9.15am yesterday.
The bore is on private land next to Daybreak Senior Daycare on Lake Rd.
Traffic was diverted through Tarewa Rd and Kuirau Park until a team from the Rotorua District Council and Rotorua Well Drilling managed to cap the bore and make it safe. Fire Northern Communications shift manager Steve Smith said they were called just before 11pm by a resident who could see "something that looked like an eruption".
He said fire crews were at the scene for less than an hour.
"They said the bore had gone rogue."
Lake Rd resident Owen Shepherd said he hardly slept due to the roaring sound of the bore.
"It was going all night.
"It's a bit of a novelty, water was going across the road and up into the sky.
"It was quite amazing," Mr Shepherd said.
Rotorua Daily Post editor Kim Gillespie was at the scene yesterday about 8.30am and said there was still a loud rushing noise and a large amount of steam floating across the road.
Rotorua District Council geothermal general inspector Peter Brownbridge said a bore across the road from Kuirau Park had blown a valve.
Image 1 of 16: PHOTO: Gary Hamilton-Irvine
As a safety precaution, the council had closed three of Lake Rd's four lanes to traffic.
He said geothermal engineers were able to successfully "quench" the bore, eliminating the problem.
"Following testing on the bore, all traffic lanes on Lake Rd were reopened to traffic at 9.15am."
The intruder allegedly assaulted a pregnant shopkeeper, throwing her to the ground.
