Raw sewage floods several Idaho Falls homes

Some Idaho Falls homeowners spent Thursday night cleaning up after a sewage backup sent human waste into several homes.

The city of Idaho Falls says a backup pump stopped working around 9:00 a.m. while crews were working on upgrading a lift station. That failure resulted in raw sewage filling at least nine homes in the southwest part of town.

“We had some flooding in the carpet and it got into the sheet rock,” homeowner Chuck Novak told KIFI/KIDK Tuesday evening after his wife called the newsroom.

City of Idaho Falls spokeswoman Kerry Hammon says a member of Public Works is currently checking the pump every two hours until it is fully operational. There is no estimated time for that to happen.

At least five restoration crews were counted on Newman Drive working to clean up the mess in as many as seven homes, according to Brando Morgan with Flood & Fire Solutions.

Morgan told KIFI/KIDK that several homes had upwards of 2.5” of sewage in their basements. Other restoration companies agreed, calling this one of the worst jobs they’ve done.

“I haven’t seen this many restoration companies on a street at one time,” Apollo Ford with Henderson Restoration said. Morgan and Ford both said their crews would be working late into Thursday night to get the jobs done. Morgan said his crews would be back Friday to finish the job.