Officials in Fairfield County are concerned that a giant sinkhole in Lancaster could get bigger. A homeowner told 10TV he noticed the sinkhole Wednesday morning and it's grown twice its size since.
Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency officials closed part of Tschopp Road Wednesday night to keep traffic away from the sinkhole.
From about 4 feet in diameter to 20, Anthony Durant watched as the sinkhole in his yard got bigger and bigger.
"I've never seen nothing like this except for on the news and other states. I could stand in there twice probably, at least," Durant said.
Durant says he noticed the sinkhole around 8 a.m. when he was getting ready to take his child to school. Since then, Fairfield County officials decided to tape off part of his yard, worried the sinkhole could grow into another problem.
"That hole growing or eroding more back towards the top of the dam, ultimately leading the dam to fail and the water to basically come out in one, full gush," Director of Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency Jon Kochis said.
On the other side of the sinkhole is a good sized pond. Kochis says rain from severe storms and old infrastructure caused the outflow pipe to collapse, creating the large sinkhole.
Officials are concerned for at least three other homes on Tschopp Road.
"Basically once that water leaves this area there's nowhere for it to go so it's going to creep up into basements and lower floors," Kochis said.
But Durant says he sees more than a sinkhole in his yard.
"Thinking about the money that I wasn't planning on spending something like this," Durant said.
Officials say because the dam is exempt and the state of Ohio doesn't inspect it, the homeowner is responsible for the fix. Durant estimates it will cost him more than $20,000 to make repairs.