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Freak discovery: Sinkhole found outside WB’s library
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · April 24, 2024
In a freak accident, a 9-year-old girl playing outside West Branch Public Library stepped on soft ground and tumbled into an apparent sinkhole on April 9.
The girl was shaken up but apparently unhurt, though the City of West Branch cordoned off the area with orange snow fencing until Lynch’s Excavation came in to fill the hole on April 19.
Father Matt Cain said his 9-year-old son, Jonathan, and the girl were shooting a Fortnite-type video with a tablet when the girl stepped on the mulch around three air conditioning compressors near the Poplar Street entrance.
At about 3:40 p.m. the ground gave way, and the girl fell in next to the compressor on the north end of the three units. Jonathan ran into the library for help.
WBPL Library Director Jessie Schafer said she called 911 and stayed outside talking to the girl, who was conscious but upset. Volunteer firefighter and Capt. Clint McFarland drove directly to the scene and pulled the girl out.
Meanwhile, West Branch police and fire departments responded to the 911 call with official vehicles and found the girl and McFarland seated on a round picnic table with Schafer standing beside them.
Fire Chief Kevin Stoolman said the girl was soaked from the knees down and a little muddy.
Mayor Roger Laughlin said on Friday that, perhaps, two downspouts depositing rain nearby allowed water to pool and soften the ground rather than run off.
Schafer said she did not have any indication that the ground would give way.
“I had not seen any water pooling in that area before the hole appeared, but it is near a downspout,” she said.
Schafer said the Public Works Department fenced off the area right away.
“The city’s building inspector was contacted and he conducted a thorough review of the foundation and building integrity, confirming no impact to on the building,” Schafer wrote in an email to the Times. “Public Works also promptly engaged Lynch’s Excavation to fill the hole.”
The library director said library staff will discuss long-term mitigation plans in the coming week.
“I’d also like to thank the quick response by our first responders and Public Works team during the incident! It all happened very fast,” she wrote.
At the April 15 City Council meeting, Ken Ingalls, who identified himself as a former West Liberty golf coach and retired teacher, appeared to ask if the sinkhole had been filled in.
“As a former teacher, I know kids are really curious. They want to go see how deep that is,” the Iowa High School Golf Coaches Association Hall of Famer said.
He said he heard that the girl fell in headfirst and that there was water at the bottom.
“Maybe she would have been very seriously hurt,” Ingalls said. “If it hasn’t been filled in yet, I would hope the city would consider filling that in. I would really appreciate it.”
When this reporter stopped by the WBPL on April 17 the hole appeared about a foot to 18 inches deep and three feet across. However, muddy water at the bottom of the hole made measuring its depth difficult.
Mayor Roger Laughlin stopped by the library on Friday to pick up a book and stopped to talk to the Times about the sinkhole.
Lynch’s was on the scene with a small power shovel to dig up soft ground to be refilled and compacted.
Laughlin noted that the library was built on the site of the former junior high school which burned down in 1978. Laughlin said the building’s remains were pushed into the basement and covered in dirt. After a fundraising campaign, the new library was built in 1993.
Laughlin said that, perhaps, the ground under the new library was not compacted very well.
The compressors sit on a concrete slab, which did not collapse, but the ground fell away from the corner of the slab.
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