Area fire crews save sewer line worker partially buried in collapsed hole in Hutchinson
Fire crews from three south-central Kansas agencies pushed through the Tuesday evening heat to save a sewer line worker buried up to his waist in a collapsing, 8-foot-deep hole in the ground.
The worker was in the hole replacing a 4-inch sewer line at 1707 E. Blanchard in Hutchinson when it suddenly caved in and trapped him, Hutchinson fire Chief Steven Beer said in a news release.
The worker, a 24-year-old man, “was buried in a wet slurry mix and was unable to extricate himself,” the chief said in the release. Hutchinson fire crews arrived on scene at 5:17 p.m. following a call for a “trench rescue,” the release says.
They immediately asked for help from the Newton and Sedgwick County fire departments “due to the high heat and labor-intensive operations,” the chief said.
It took fire crews three hours and 12 minutes to dig the man out of the hole completely.
The rescue was particularly tough because fire crews “battled a low ground water table which in turn had created a large amount of water seeping into the collapsed hole,” Beer said in the release.
The hole was 12 feet in diameter and 8 feet deep.
“Fire crews worked in 30-minute shifts, were then rehydrated, and placed back in the work rotation to keep crews fresh,” Beer said.
The sewer line worker was taken by ambulance to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center for treatment after he was pulled out.
In all, the Hutchinson Fire Department received help with Tuesday’s rescue from the Reno County 911 Dispatch Center, the Hutchinson Police Department, the South Hutchinson Police Departments Light Trailer, the Newton Fire Department, the Sedgwick County Fire Department, Reno County Emergency Medical Services, the city of Hutchinson Department of Public Works, Reno County Emergency Management and Dig Rite of Hutchinson.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 11:30 AM.
