KINGSTON — About 33 homes on Apple Tree Point Lane are without road access after soil under a portion of the road slid away Dec. 13.

A culvert pipe leaked and caused the side of the hill under the road to be saturated with water, according to Apple Tree Point Lane resident Gordon Becker. He estimates the leaky pipe has been in place since the 1980s.

“If the pipe hadn’t leaked, we wouldn’t be doing this now,” Becker said. He also thinks recent heavy rains played a factor in the slide; Kingston received almost 10 inches of rain in the 10 days prior to the slide, according to weather.com.

“If you impact the hill with that much water, it’s going to move,” Becker said.

Crews were on site making repairs Dec. 16. Some residents were able to park their vehicles above the slide, allowing them foot access to the main road.

Becker said there was a slide near the same area just a few years ago. Most of the trees on the hillside are deciduous and don’t absorb much water when their leaves fall off in the winter, he said.

North Kitsap Fire & Rescue Chief Dan Smith sent Apple Tree Point Lane residents a letter informing them that emergency vehicles would not be able to access the neighborhood until the road was passable.

“We encourage you to prepare for the worst,” Smith wrote. “If you or your family members are medically fragile, we urge you to find alternate housing until the roadway is repaired … If fire strikes, get out of the house and stay out. We would not be able to perform rescues and anticipate that a fire, without our intervention, would quickly spread to adjacent homes.”

He added, “we are sincerely concerned for your safety.”

John Salinas of Salinas Contracting hopes to have a passable lane open by Dec. 18. “That way, people will have access for the holidays and (emergency) access,” Salinas said.

His crew was going to add ecology blocks to the western side of the hill above the road and then put a combination of large and small rocks along the hill below the road to stabilize it. They’ll also redo a drainage line and remove broken asphalt.

“It’s all about controlling the water around here,” Becker said. “If you can control the water and not let it saturate (the hill), you’ll be fine.”

Apple Tree Point Lane residents were expected to be without power until about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 16 and again on Dec. 17.