Photo By Rick Emert | FORT CARSON, Colo. — Fort Carson and Colorado Springs firefighters use a vacuum...... read more read more
By Scott Prater
Mountaineer staff
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Fort Carson Fire Department Heavy Rescue firefighters assisted in rescuing a construction worker following a trench collapse in Colorado Springs Oct. 20, 2021.
The heavy rescue crew and its Structural Trench Collapse Trailer were called out to west Garden of the Gods Road as part of the department’s mutual aid agreement with the city. Timothy Baker, assistant chief of Health and Safety for the FCFD, received the call shortly before 9:30 a.m., and the heavy rescue team was on site roughly 20 minutes later.
Upon arrival, Baker liaised with the incident command team and relayed instructions to his heavy rescue team.
Assessments determined that dirt and debris had buried a man up to his thighs inside of an 8-foot-deep trench. While Colorado Springs firefighters assisted the victim in the trench, Fort Carson firefighters went to work shoring the trench and assisting in extricating him. Working for over an hour, the combined firefighter teams managed to free the man, who suffered some injuries and was treated on the scene by paramedics, then transported to a local hospital.
“From what we could tell, construction workers had been laying water pipe next to a construction site and their trench shoring ended up failing, trapping the man between the pipe, the broken shoring and dirt from the trench,” Baker said.
Fort Carson’s heavy rescue vehicle is a truck specifically designed with a mobile toolbox, including extrication and shoring capabilities, spreaders, cutters, hydraulic struts and jacks, and other equipment that helps firefighters build shoring for whatever the situation may call for, either for working inside of a trench or for use in a bridge collapse, for example. The truck and team of firefighters from Fort Carson’s Station 31 made up the heavy rescue team and are particularly skilled in operations of this type.
“Trench rescue incidents are a low occurrence, but they present a high hazard,” Baker said. “They don’t happen a lot, but when they do happen, firefighters have to understand and be ready. Rescuing a person in just over an hour is a phenomenal time frame for this type of situation. We’re very proud of our teams for achieving such a positive outcome.”
Once the victim had been extricated, the heavy rescue team also assisted Colorado Springs firefighters on the scene with trench shoring and debris removal. The crews also remained on the scene to assist with stabilizing the trench for contractors performing work there.
“This is a true showcase of the vital importance of fostering and maintaining strong relationships with our surrounding municipal partners,” said Robert Fisher, fire chief, Fort Carson Fire and Emergency Services.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 12.16.2021 13:00 |
| Story ID: | 411329 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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