Nov. 16--A Walled Lake firefighter said he had to use his hands to help dig a 70-year-old man out of a collapsed trench today.
Walled Lake Fire Department Capt. Jason Gonzalez said the man was buried up to his shoulders when he arrived and started using his hands to dig as construction workers used shovels. Other firefighters from Walled Lake and Commerce Township arrived, and the man was pulled free using a harness about 11:30 a.m., 20 minutes after dispatch was called.
The man, who owns a construction company in Florida, was part of a crew installing a water or sewer line in the 900 block of North Pontiac Trail in Walled Lake when the unshored trench collapsed shortly after 11 a.m., Gonzalez said.
"We just made do and did what we could and got him out," Gonzalez said, noting that it was a dangerous situation for the responding firefighters, at least one of whom had get into the trench to get the man out.
The man, who suffered a broken clavicle, is recovering at Botsford Hospital in Farmington Hills, Gonzalez said.
The job site has been shut down, and the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to investigate, Gonzalez said.
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