By Bay City News Service and SAM RICHARDS
Contra Costa Times (California)
A 30-year veteran of the Pleasanton-Livermore Fire Department was hospitalized this morning after falling 20 to 25 feet onto a concrete floor as firefighters battled a two-alarm fire at a Pleasanton garbage transfer station early this morning.
Livermore-Pleasanton fire Capt. Doug Croll told Bay City News Service that Capt. Scott Walsh fell onto the floor of an empty garbage pit shortly after crews responded to the fire at the Pleasanton Garbage Service transfer station on Busch Road around 1 a.m.
The fire took about four hours to get under control because of the long and involved rescue operation, Croll said.
Croll could not confirm the nature of Walsh’s injuries, but subsequent reports have said Walsh sustained broken bones and internal injuries in the fall. Walsh was flown from the scene of the fire by helicopter to Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Croll said.
Walsh will retire from the fire department in December. His retirement was planned ahead and is unrelated to today’s incident.