Photos and info courtesy Rita Reith
Indianapolis (IN) firefighters responded yesterday to the scene of a fatal trench collapse in the community of Bargersville.
According to the department’s Facebook page, the department’s collapse rescue team recovered the victim, a 56-year-old man, after more than 10 hours of operations.
The rescue team was dispatched to Bargersville at the request of the Bargersville Fire Department to conduct the trench rescue operation. Unstable conditions of the work area prevented the team from immediate entry to make the recovery. Heavy machinery was brought in to create a more stable platform from which to work, which included moving dirt and leveling out the remaining surface of the 30 x 15 ft. trench and sloping the area enough for crews to get in and out during the operation. The heavy machinery operations took several hours.
Indianapolis Collapse Rescue Team 1 was able to make first entry into the trench at 4:37 p.m. and located the man at 5:25 p.m. It would be another 6 hours of intense, physical and grueling work, digging, shoring, and stabilizing before victim removal would actually occur. The Hancock County collapse rescue team also responded to the incident, along with the Bargersville Fire Department.
RITA L. REITH is a battalion chief with the Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) and serves as the agency’s public information officer.
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