A contractor getting ready to work on a bridge for Pinal County accidentally ruptured a water line this afternoon, cutting off water service to several homes in the Thunderbird Farms area.

Angela Villa, with the Thunderbird Farms Improvement District, confirmed the line break occurred during construction work on behalf of the county.

“So now we have a good chunk of people without water,” Villa said, while standing over the contractor digging out the water line. “We’re fixing it. They’re fixing it. Everyone’s on it.”

Villa wore a bandana and rested her hand on a holstered pistol while she oversaw the contractors to dig out the ruptured pipe, flushing muddy water down Ralston Road.

Forty minutes earlier, she took to Facebook to let customers know what was going on.

“We are aware of leak [sic] and water pressure issue,” she wrote on Facebook, as customers who rely on the water posted about low water pressure or no water whatsoever. “Our main line was hit by contractor [sic] and we are in the process of shut down and repair.”

The outage impacted homes across several blocks of the rural area, but exact numbers of homes impacted were not known.

“Sounds like the well got sucked dry,” said Brie Chatham on Facebook.

“Hopefully you’ll have it fixed by tonight otherwise my horses will be out of water,” worried Sally Oja Fenster.

“Don’t be too hard on them, I’m sure they will do the best they can,” replied Kendra Crabtree. “If you need your horses watered, I can fill up from the irrigation and bring you some.”

As of early afternoon, the pipe had been fully exposed and repair efforts were underway. As the sun started to lower, lighting fixtures were being brought in, with the expectation that repairs would go past dark.

Villa estimated that most residents would have water restored within a few hours, but it was hard to promise anything. Many of the Thunderbird Farms water customers rely on the water for irrigation systems, horses and other livestock.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people in Thunderbird Farms have irrigation,” Villa said. “There are a few lots that don’t, but we’re a state agency, not a private water company, so we have a limited time to get water back on. If someone’s got water that only lasts 30 minutes and they live out here, that’s their issue.”

Correction: This article was updated to spelled Angela Villa’s name correctly.