By HECTOR GUTIERREZ
Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
A worker helping to install a sewer line was buried up to his chest by dirt and sand for more than two hours Wednesday before Denver firefighters were able to pull him out of a 12-foot trench.
Firefighters and Denver paramedics placed the victim on a gurney and rushed him to a waiting ambulance at the scene of the industrial accident in an alley in the south Denver Rosedale neighborhood.
The 33-year-old man, who was not identified, was alert although he did inhale some sand into his lungs, said Lt. Philip Champagne, fire department spokesman.
“He was a little agitated, and that’s a good sign,” the lieutenant said.
The victim was taken by ambulance to an undisclosed hospital. His condition was not known Wednesday night.
Firefighters believe the worker should never have been trapped by the collapsing soil in the first place, Champagne said. A trench box, which should have been placed in the ditch to keep sand from caving in, was sitting about 20 feet away from the cave-in site, Champagne said.
Not having a trench box in place is likely an Occupational Safety and Health Administration violation, the lieutenant said.
The victim was working with two other men in an alley behind the construction site of duplex townhomes in the 2600 block of South Grant Street. The victim was in the ditch working on a sewer line for the townhomes.
About 2:40 p.m., sand and dirt collapsed on the man. The two other workers called for help, Champagne said.
The rescue effort began in 100-degree heat, with about 20 firefighters scrambling to keep more loose soil from collapsing.
Firefighters used several boards to fashion a makeshift trench box, Assistant Fire Chief David Quintana said.
The angle of the trench next to the victim was shaped like a cornice, so firefighters worked delicately to keep the wall of dirt from caving in, Quintana said.
A team of five firefighters used buckets to remove the loose soil from the trench. As firefighters struggled to reach the victim, they placed an oxygen mask over his face, Champagne said.
Meantime, firefighters used a new piece of equipment, an air shovel made available through a Department of Homeland Security grant, to free the man.
An air shovel is a powerful vacuum that sucks out dirt and debris from collapsed buildings and other similar industrial accidents.
“It was a huge advantage,” Quintana said of the new tool.
Firefighters pulled the man out of the trench shortly before 5 p.m.