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LEHI — Crews in Lehi were able to free a man who was partially buried in a deep trench.
Whipple Service employee Seth Thomas, 41, was in a 10-foot deep trench Tuesday morning in the front yard of a Lehi home near 2400 North and 910 West trying to replace a broken sewer pipe. The homeowner says she heard a loud cracking and snapping noise and rushed outside but couldn't find Thomas in the hole and called 911.
The fire department responded to her call and was able to locate 41-year-old Thomas in the trench. He had been buried in the dirt up to his chest and pinned against the pipe. Battalion Chief Rick Howard of the Lehi Fire Department said they first made sure Thomas could breathe before they started the rescue.
"We had crew secure his airway and make sure the dirt was removed from his face so he could breathe," Howard said.
Rescue workers couldn't jump in the hole and immediately rescue him — they had to make sure the other walls of the trench were secure first.
"We're not going to put rescue crews in the hole without the sides of the hole being safe so we had to secure the sides of the wall with our trench panels," Howard said. "Once we got those secure, we were able to get people into the hole to start (extracting) him."
We're not going to put rescue crews in the hole without the sides of the hole being safe so we had to secure the sides of the wall with our trench panels. Once we got those secure, we were able to get people into the hole to start (extracting) him.
–Battalion Chief Rick Howard, Lehi Fire Department
An IV was also started while Thomas was still in the trench to help alleviate some of the "great deal of pain" he was in, Howard said.
After Thomas was freed, he was taken to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where he was treated for a pelvic fracture and later released.
Thomas has been with Whipple Service for less than a year but has years of experience in this field with another company. Whipple Service said this is the first time this has happened to a Whipple employee and the crew was almost done with the repair when it happened.
Whipple Service also said that weather played a factor in the collapse — the damp, saturated soil was less stable for a repair.
Contributing: Celeste Tholen Rosenlof and Pat Reavy
