Calif. Rescuers Save Man Stuck in Dirt Up to His Neck
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Sept. 12--A large hole collapsed outside a Saratoga home on Monday, burying a construction worker neck-high in dirt for several hours, firefighters said.
Crews safely rescued the worker and he was not hurt, although an ambulance took him to Valley Medical Center as a precaution.
A construction firm working on a home remodel project on Radoyka Drive in northern Saratoga, near Lawrence Expressway and Saratoga Avenue, called 911 at 11:35 a.m., said Ron Vega, battalion chief for the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
When crews arrived, they found the worker, who was not identified, buried in a trench he was working in. Vega said the soil at the surface somehow shifted and filled the hole before the man could escape.
Firefighters, county roads workers and San Jose public works crews slowly stabilized the soil around him while clearing away the dirt. At 3:30 p.m., they used a pulley system to lift the man out.
The man's head was poking above the soil and was initially scared as the soil inched toward his mouth, but then crews began making progress.
"Toward the end he was like, 'hurry up; let's go, let's get out of here,'" Vega said. "He went through a whole gamut of emotions."
Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705.
