LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) — The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department rescued a worker trapped in a trench at a construction site of a single-family home in La Jolla.
SDFD responded to reports of a man buried from the waist down at the construction site in the 8400 block of El Paseo Grande around 8 a.m. Wednesday. The construction worker was conscious and alert as fire crews conducted a complex, technical rescue plan to extricate him.
"This is probably one of the more technical and or serious rescues we will probably do all year, so that kind of gives you a level of understanding of where we're at right now," an SDFD battalion chief on the scene told ABC 10News. "It is a very dynamic situation. Everything we do causes one reaction or another, so we have to take those things into account and then work with basically what we're given to remove him."
The worker was freed and taken to the hospital at around 1:30 p.m. following a rescue effort that lasted 5.5 hours.
The battalion chief also said the main danger in this situation was the possibility of the structure collapsing further.
Paramedics administered IVs and gave the worker pain medication as the rescue was underway.
SDFD says after firefighters pulled the worker out, it appeared the 62-year-old man had a fractured arm.
"That's all that's visible at this point, but he will be evaluated at a local trauma center for any possible other crush injuries or anything else internal that may have occurred," SDFD Deputy Fire Chief Brian Raines says.
Raines also says about 50 first responders were on the scene, including three crews from the department's technical rescue team. OSHA was on the scene as well.
Raines says the man was about 8 to 10 feet down inside the trench. As part of the complex rescue, firefighters had to start removing wood framing of the house before they could work in the trench. Additionally, they tried to maneuver around a concrete footing that weighs thousands of pounds, which fell into the trench at some point, according to Raines.
The deputy fire chief also says SDFD doesn't know at this point how the man got trapped in the trench.
