Bay City municipal worker Arthur "Tito" Flores, 57, was resting at home today, and no one could blame him if he wanted a little peace and quiet - in fact, he plans to retire in a few months.
On Wednesday, Flores was the center of attention for more than 100 rescuers, who worked for nearly six hours to save him after he was buried chest-deep in a 20-foot hole while doing sewer work.
Today his legs are a little sore, but the Bay City man, who was awake and talking throughout Wednesday's ordeal, said his experience as a Vietnam veteran helped him stay cool under pressure.
"I'm a hard trouper," Flores said. "I've been in situations when people have died. ... You just gotta keep going."
As a sewer worker, Flores said he's been in hazardous situations before, but never anything so serious.
"It's just a long wait, six hours being down there, but it goes with the territory when you work in a situation like that."
Flores was given intravenous fluids and oxygen by rescue workers while a wooden box was built around him to keep the sandy hole from collapsing further.
His wife, Kathy Flores, stood by as firefighters hauled in equipment. She came to the scene after seeing news of the cave-in on television at her home on nearby South Stanton Street.
"I really think somebody was watching out for him," Kathy Stanton said today. "I did a lot of praying when I was there ... I didn't care if he was broken up all over - just be alive."
A crowd of people applauded and cheered when Flores was finally brought out of the hole a little after 3:30 p.m. He was treated and released at Bay Regional Medical Center.
They cheered again for the firefighters and rescue workers who had come from all over the state to spend the day working in sun that blazed down on the 10-foot by 15-foot hole.
"The city is very happy to hear that (Flores) is home and resting and that everything turned out OK," said Dana Muscott, assistant city manager, this morning.
City Manager Robert V. Belleman is on vacation, though he and Muscott were on hand as events unfolded Wednesday.
Muscott said the hole was boarded up last night and that city workers will begin working on repairing the sewer main and filling in the hole today.
Flores was working on a sewer main in an alley connecting 24th Street and Lafayette Avenue between Wilson and McCormick streets. He apparently was standing at the edge of a hole that had been dug out when it collapsed at about 10 a.m.
Firefighters from Bay City responded to the call and worked at the scene with Bay City Police until the arrival of a specialized team made up of firefighters from the Saginaw Township and Thomas Township fire departments.
Bay City Fire Chief Douglas J. Doefer was on his way to an out-of-state vacation when he was called to the scene.
"It was a very difficult rescue, a very difficult rescue," Doefer said after Flores had been taken to the hospital.
"It wasn't that our guys couldn't do it. It was that we didn't have enough equipment and we needed help," Doefer said. "Our friends were there for us today."
Help came from more than 70 firefighters from four different Michigan Urban Search and Rescue strike teams. The teams, Doefer said, specialize in technical rescues and are highly trained.
"Trench rescue is one of their specialties," Doefer said.
Firefighters with specialized training came as far away as Ann Arbor, Lansing and Pontiac.
The Urban Search and Rescue has search, rescue, medical and technical personnel trained for long-term operations and catastrophic collapse events, such as the collapse of the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York.
It also has strike forces, which are designed for immediate response and operations lasting up to 24 hours.
At the Bay City site workers first squared off the hole with extension ladders placed around its perimeter. They then spent hours bringing in large sheets of wood that were lowered into the hole to make a sort of "box" around Flores. Hydraulic jacks were used to stabilize the walls and to hold them apart.
Gary Fox, a retired Bay City firefighter was watching the operation intently.
"At that point they're safe," Fox explained while the jacks were brought to the scene. "The sides cannot come in on them. If the sides cave in, not only is he (Flores) in trouble, but your rescue workers are in trouble, too."
Flores said the entire experience was a positive one for him after watching how rescue workers from all over worked so smoothly together to get him out.
"The training paid off," he said. "It's well worth the money."
