Flooding from Westwood water line break topples trees, shuts down Sunset Blvd.

WESTWOOD, Calif. - UCLA staff stacked sandbags to protect Pauley Pavilion early Sunday after an underground 30-inch water line broke in Westwood, causing water to gush so powerfully it took down two trees and shuttered Sunset Boulevard between Veteran and Hilgard avenues, authorities said. 

 The floodwaters in the 10600 block of West Sunset Boulevard were reported at 1:35 a.m.  

Get breaking news alerts in the FOX 11 News app. Download for iOS or Android.

No one needed to be rescued, according to Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey, who said firefighters arrived on the scene before the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.  

LADWP crews completed the shutdown of the 30-inch water main at about 7:45 a.m.  

The break occurred not far from a July 2014 rupture that spewed an estimated 20 million gallons of water across the campus and flooded numerous buildings, including Pauley Pavilion, the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, J.D. Morgan Center and the John Wooden Center.  

LADWP officials reported that Sunday's water main break was not the same trunkline that ruptured in 2014. "We have many large diameter pipes running thru this area of (the) city," the utility said.  

The flood did not impact student housing, but could affect other campus facilities in the immediate area, he said.  

According to Humphrey, a residential property to the north of Sunset did take on water.  

"Though no injuries or missing persons have been reported, LAFD will perform a comprehensive search of flooded subterranean sections of UCLA Lot 4 Parking Structure as the floodwaters subside," he said.  

Firefighters will also assist the city of Los Angeles' Street Services in removing toppled trees from Sunset Boulevard, he said.  

Sunset remained closed between Veteran and Hilgard avenues, as did Stone Canyon Road from Sunset Boulevard to Bellagio Road, Humphrey said.