Photo: Darcy Schindell Click here to view the collection A Kelowna man says his truck was severely damaged after it went over an open well on Highway 33 at Loseth Road early Wednesday morning. Darcy Schindel says the incident flattened his driver’s side rear tire, damaged the truck’s rim and axle when he hit the open well while traveling the speed limit on Highway 33 at 3:15 am. He says he spotted the top of the manhole cover in the roadway and, thinking it was a piece of debris, swerved “and my whole tire ended up hitting the manhole.” “I went up the side of the bank on Highway 33,” he said. Sindel is frustrated because a city employee who responded to the crash said there has been a recent rash of open well incidents in Kelowna. “That bugged me,” Sindel said. The City of Kelowna confirmed that a staff member responded to a call about a missing manhole Wednesday morning, but the cover had already been replaced by the time the employee arrived. “This is unfortunate timing for the gentleman who hit the open hole. The manager said this is unusual as we may have one or two manhole covers in a year,” the city spokesman said. Schindel says he replaced the manhole cover to make sure no one else met his fate. One possible explanation offered by the city was that it might have been possible that the cover had been bounced by a truck or other very heavy vehicle passing over it. “This frame and covers were recently removed and replaced by the Department of Highways for a repair job on this section of the highway. This may have contributed to the cover coming off. It is also possible that it was vandalism, but our experience is that vandals don’t usually disturb manhole covers as they are very heavy and difficult to remove,” said the city spokesman.
