27-foot long sinkhole continues to grow in North Carolina

ASHVILLE, N.C. – A 27-foot (8 metre) long and 20-foot (6 metre) deep sinkhole continues to expand in a North Carolina parking lot.

The sinkhole is about half the size of a tractor-trailer and about as deep as a giraffe’s height — and it’s growing.

Asheville firefighters responded to the scene Monday but say they can’t do anything unless the sinkhole presents a clear public danger, such as gobbling up a truck.

A next-door tenant told the Ashville Citizen Times that’s almost what happened to a delivery van coming to his restaurant.

Usually sinkholes on private land are the owner’s responsibility, even if the city’s aging public infrastructure is to blame. But city spokeswoman Ashley Traynum-Carson says Ashville is working to issue permits for emergency repairs.

It is unclear who would pay the bill.