A naked man was pulled from a storm sewer near a Walmart Supercenter on Tuesday after crawling in several days earlier and getting trapped, firefighters said.
A passer-by heard the 53-year-old man calling for help shortly before 3 p.m. through an opening in a parking lot near the store at 2019 E. 81st Street, Fire Department spokesman Stan May said.
Fire crews had to crawl inside to rescue the man, who had already given up calling for help at that opening and was on his way to another, May said.
The man was pulled out about 3:45 p.m. and was taken to St. Francis Hospital to be treated for weakness and dehydration.
"He was in relatively good health, but he hadn't had a meal in quite a while," May said.
The man had apparently crawled into the sewer from an opening in a large concrete drainage ditch about a quarter-mile west, May said. The ditch drains into the Arkansas River near the River Spirit Casino at 8330 Riverside Parkway.
The man told authorities that he had been in the sewer for several days, but it was unclear why he crawled in, May said.
Authorities did not know whether he was homeless, May said.
"Sometimes people crawl up in there, whether it's kids or whatever, looking for something to do," he said, adding that firefighters rescued another person from a storm sewer in that area earlier in the year.
"We have had to go into those before, but we don't see it very often."
Decomposing debris can release carbon monoxide and other poisonous gasses in storm sewers, so workers and emergency crews must check the air quality before entering them, May said.
The man had no protection from any gasses, May said. He also could have drowned in runoff from showers that began later in the day, he said.
"Those storm drains can fill up rather quickly," he said.
Copyright 2012 - Tulsa World, Okla.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
