Construction worker buried alive, saved by crew and firefighters in west Modesto

A construction worker was standing above a 30-foot trench in west Modesto where a sewer system is being installed when the earth beneath him gave way Friday morning.

The man, who is in his 60s, fell nearly 30 feet and several feet of dirt piled on top of him, said Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Ed Bartley.

The man wasn’t in the trench, which was reinforced on either side with massive metal plates. He was buried behind one of those plates in a hole that Bartley estimated was 2 feet wide.

The odds were against the man, but everything that happened next was “stacked in his favor,” Bartley said.

His crew members were nearby in the trench, on Sutter Avenue near Robertson Road, and quickly located him near a gap in the metal plates. They were able to pull him through the gap and into the trench, Bartley said.

When he fell, his helmet fell over his face, creating a void space that allowed him to breath during the few minutes it took his crew to pull him out.

“It was a real low percentage that someone would survive that, but he found that window,” Bartley said.

The first fire crews arrived within a minute and the whole technical rescue team was there in eight minutes. They were actually on their way to do technical rescue training when the call came out, he said.

Crews worked quickly to ensure the trench was stable and the technical rescue team used a ladder, stokes basket and rope system to get the injured man to safety.

Bartley said the man suffered injuries to his legs but was alert and oriented the whole time. He was taken by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment.