Testing of MUNI's fire suppression system causes flooding at Embarcadero BART station
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Muni riders are venturing back into the Embarcadero station in San Francisco after cascading water caused chaos for the morning commute.
KTVU got word shortly before 3:30 p.m. that service had resumed in time for the busy evening commute.
Water began pouring through the Embarcadero Station early Thursday morning. Muni said it was testing a fire suppression system which worked perfectly, but, the drainage for the water did not.
"We found two areas where the pipe has leaked, and we're putting clamps onto those sources to ensure that we can stop the water leakage,' said Paul Rose from the SFMTA.
Water poured through the Muni station and down into the BART station below.
"This is definitely an inconvenience for people, I just don't know how people are reacting to that, getting off over there where the water is just pouring down," said Emily Routman.
BART trains still stopped at the station with riders encountering the wet mess once they stepped off the trains.
"It is very inconvenient. I didn't find out anything I got here," said Wendy Rosenthal. "So if I knew better, I could plan better, but then at the same time there's always something going on with Muni or BART."
BART staffers were on hand to ensure passenger safety.
Muni scrambled to clamp two leaks in the drain pipe and pump and clear water out of the station in time for the evening commute.
"In this case because of the drainage system malfunction it did impact the morning commute and a lot of people rely on the subway system, that's why we're working to get this done as soon as possible," said Rose.
WATCH: Water gushes down at Embarcadero station
One person on Twitter quipped that because of the water and brooms that now, at least the trains might be clean.
Emily Routman of San Francisco noted how slippery the platform was. "Someone is scootering through a puddle right now," she said. "It could be worse, but there are definitely some hazards here."
As for why that drain pipe failed in the first place that's still under investigation.