Seattle Firefighters worked for forty-five minutes to rescue a construction worker trapped in a trench after the wall he was working on in the front yard of a Magnolia home collapsed and buried him waist deep. Firefighters from the Department’s Technical Rescue team used shoring materials, ladders, and wood to stabilize the 15- foot deep trench. Seattle Public Utilities supplied a vactor truck and worked closely with firefighters to vacuum the dirt and sand out from around the patient until he was free. The man communicated with firefighters throughout the rescue and was transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

Firefighters communicated with the patient throughout the rescue.

Seattle Public Utilities used a vactor truck to vacuum dirt out from around the patient.

A look at the trench after the patient was rescued. The wall on the left side of the photo collapsed and buried the patient waist deep.