A repair worker was rescued from underneath a New City home Friday after the trench he was working in collapsed, trapping him up to his chest in mud.
The man, whose named was not released, was trapped under the house on Germonds Rd. for two hours, but was reportedly conscious after being rescued. He was placed in a neck brace and brought to Albertus Magnus High School, where he was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center.
The Nanuet Fire Department received a call about the collapse at approximately 1:30 p.m. Friday and the victim was removed from under the home at about 3:30 p.m. Part of the difficulty in the rescue was the type of mud he was buried in.
“The dirt that was compacted on the victim was wet, clay-type dirt, which makes it real heavy,” said Rockland Regional Technical Rescue Team Chief Donald Arterburn. “There was a lot of decorative stone and large boulders in the trench with him.”
One of those boulders was pressed against the victim’s chest when the rescue team arrived.
“That was our first obstacle to move,” Arterburn said. “After that, it was just digging down to get to his feet. His legs were bent, so we had to uncover a good portion of them before we went in to pull him out.”
The emergency workers used a tripod to help lift the man out of the trench. Arterburn estimated the man was about six feet down into the trench.
“Anytime you go below four and a half feet, you risk being buried like this because there is so much weight,” he said. “Figure a cubic foot of dirt weighs 150 pounds, and his feet were well below surface, so there was a lot of dirt and a lot of weight pinning him to the foundation of the house.”
Arterburn added that being down that low could lead to suffocation of being crushed.
Nanuet Fire Commissioner Harold Straut said the agencies involved in the rescue were the Nanuet Fire Department, Rockland Regional Technical Rescue Team, Pearl River Fire Department, Nanuet Ambulance Corps, Rockland Paramedics, Clarkstown Police Department, Clarkstown Building Department, Orange & Rockland, Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA) and STAT Flight. The West Nyack Fire Department handled the landing zone and Spring Valley Fire Department stood by for Nanuet in case of any emergencies.
“It was a good operation by everybody that was involved with it, and it was successful,” Straut said.
He added that the man was not only conscious when lifted out of the trench, but was talking to one police officer, who translated from Spanish for the other emergency workers.
Straut said he didn’t know if there were any building violations with the home that might’ve led to the collapse, and that the Clarkstown Police Department and OSHA would conduct an investigation.
Thanks! Phil Costa http://photosbyphilcosta.zenfolio.com/p380020509
person but on the character of the person offering the help.
system works for all kinds of emergencies not just fires. The next time you see a Blue light flashing towards you pull over and dont delay them.
As a point of information, all of Rockland's Firefighters are volunteers. I've been one since 1971, and these folks do a great job, 24/7/365. They always need the support of the community, and the residents have been great to us! All Rockland's Departments need new volunteers. The training is demanding, the hours are long, and the fires are real. But so is the satisfaction of a job well done. Stop by your local fire house and ask what you can do to "Help us to help you!" Stay fire safe! Phil Costa
Mike: Do you even know for a fact that it was a Mexican (as most are from central and south america)? Maybe when a 'legal american' is willing to risk their life and do menial jobs will the 'problem' be eliminated?
Your attitude is the problem, first you did not capatilize" American" but you did "Mexican", so I must assume in writing this response that you have so grudge against America? Second, the reason landscapers, contractors, homeowners etc use these illegal workers is becasue they (unfortunatelly) will do this kind of jobs with out the necessary safety precautions because they have no choice. I my view the use of this these illegals actually amounts to a form of slavery or indentured service. If there were no illegals to hire the contractor, homeowner, landscaper would be forced to use a legal company that is insured, licensed and has has the proper permits and equipments to do the job and has it's worker's covered by workman's comp. All of this is not done so they (contractor, homeowner, landscaper ) can make more money for the work they perform. So if you really do care about the illegal you would insist that the hireing party be criminally charged for putting this person's life in danger either criminally or civilly fined for this act. This my prevent this type of actions in the future and help stop the flow of illegals into this country.
medical care.
Did the Patch ever follow up to see if there were any building violations with the home that might’ve led to the collapse,. Did the homeowner have a permit for the work? Or if the Clarkstown Police Department and OSHA have finished their investigation and what the results were?
Did the Patch ever follow up to see if there were any building violations with the home that might’ve led to the collapse,. Did the homeowner have a permit for the work? Or if the Clarkstown Police Department and OSHA have finished their investigation and what the results were? What is the condition of the individual who was injured? Why is there never any follow up on certain stories......?