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Sinkhole the Size of a Hot Tub Traps Sanitation Department Salt Truck

By  Jack D'Isidoro and Aidan Gardiner | February 1, 2016 2:44pm | Updated on February 1, 2016 3:03pm

 The salt spreader got stuck on Tiebout Road in Fordham, officials said.
The salt spreader got stuck on Tiebout Road in Fordham, officials said.
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DNAinfo/Jack D'Isidoro

THE BRONX — A chronic sinkhole that's plagued a residential Fordham street for years opened up again on Monday, swallowing up a Department of Sanitation salt spreader wheel and trapping the vehicle for close to two hours, according to officials and witnesses.

(Video courtesy of Norma Torres)

The spreader's front passenger's side tire got wedged in the massive hole outside 2235 Tiebout Ave., near East 182nd Street, at approximately 10:30 a.m., a Sanitation spokeswoman said.

The truck had been freed by 12:40 p.m. and crews covered the hole about 3 p.m.

Sinkhole(DNAinfo/John D'Isidoro)

Juan Villalon, 57, was eating breakfast when he heard men shouting "Stop! Stop!" followed by a loud boom.

"At first, I thought it was a car accident. Once I came out, I realized that finally the hole opened up again," Villalon said.

Residents said the sinkhole is just the latest in a long line of problems on that stretch of Tiebout Avenue.

"They've had to close the hole in the middle of the street five times in the past three years," Villalon said.

"We're very lucky there hasn't been a major catastrophe in the spot," he added.

Monday afternoon, the hole sat, unfilled, in the roadway, cordoned off by a cluster of orange construction barrels and yellow tape. It was filled with filthy water and stretched from the roadway all the way to the curb.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Transportation, which mends potholes, referred calls to the Department of Environmental Protection, which handles sinkholes. The DEP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.