SW Wash. couple were ‘up to their knees in water’ after car fell into sinkhole at Vancouver intersection

VANCOUVER, Wash. (KGW/KTVZ) — A couple is safe after their car fell into a sinkhole in a Vancouver intersection early Saturday morning. 

Katlynn Bicknell, of La Center, Washington, said her boyfriend, Kevin, was driving at 30th and Washington streets around 1:15 a.m. when the front of their car hit the sinkhole.

"We had seen there was water on the road, and we were like, 'What’s this?'" recalled Bicknell, who was in the passenger seat. "As soon as we took the corner, it just was like a rollercoaster — immediately, the front end went down."

Bicknell said she panicked, but Kevin remained calm and told her to get out through the window. Instead, she tried to open the door, it slammed shut and hit her leg, but Bicknell managed to escape.

"(The car) was slowly sinking down and filling with water, just like the movies," she said. "As I am halfway out, he’s already out, trying to help me get out of the hole ... we were up to our knees with water."

Safe on solid ground, Bicknell then called 911. The couple waited for a tow truck, but the road was still unstable, Bicknell said, recalling that the road was "buckling in multiple places." 

The sinkhole was in the middle of the road, and Bicknell estimated it was "around four to four-and-a-half feet deep," which quickly filled up with water.

"I’m very thankful it happened to us and not an older person," she said. "It felt so unreal."

Bicknell credits Kevin for keeping his composure, saying, "He’s very calm minded, and so, he’s who I needed in that situation."

Aside from Bicknell's bruising from the car door hitting her leg, the couple emerged unscathed. 

Their car, though? It's a total loss. 

Bicknell did say she's relieved that the car had manual windows so that they were able to escape.

"Our next vehicle is definitely going to have manual windows," she said. 

Vancouver police said that a water main broke, making the road unstable and caused the sinkhole. 

The intersection was closed as Vancouver Public Works crews worked on repairs, with the water service shut off. The water main leak was fixed around 10 a.m., Vancouver Public Works confirmed, and the sinkhole is filled. 

"It was a sleepless night; we didn’t get home until probably 3, 3:30 a.m. and didn’t get to bed until like noon because we were still full of adrenaline," Bicknell said. 

"I'm never going to drive through a puddle again," she added.