June 25 -- MEDWAY, MA -- A Medway Middle School custodian was brought to a Worcester hospital Monday afternoon after a row of lockers she was cleaning fell and trapped her, school and town officials said.
The incident occurred as school staff began cleaning for the summer nearly a week after classes ended for the seasonal break, according to Superintendent Armand Pires.
Firefighters received a report that a woman was trapped around 1:16 p.m.
On arrival at the 45 Holliston St. school, emergency responders discovered the custodian pinned beneath a row of lockers approximately 25 feet long, Town Administrator Michael Boynton said in an interview at the scene. The woman's name was not released.
The lockers, located in a second-floor hallway, included about 50 in total with 25 in each of the top and bottom rows, Pires and Boynton said.
Emergency crews from Medway, Norfolk, Millis and Bellingham fire departments used air bags to slowly raise the lockers off of the custodian - a full-time employee - and were ultimately able to pull her out, officials said.
Using the equipment to lift the lockers instead of manpower was critical, according to Boynton.
"With a bank of lockers that length, you didn't want to try to pick them up because any kind of reshifting could injure her," he said.
The custodian was conscious and received a medical evaluation from crews on scene, but was also transported to the hospital in Worcester for further examination, Pires said.
The lockers, installed in 2011, are attached to a cement base that's part of the building, according to Pires. The units are also supposed to be anchored to the wall, he said.
Medway police will be investigating to determine how the lockers were dislodged. Once the investigation by police is completed, school officials will evaluate and re-anchor lockers throughout the school, Pires said.
In a statement sent to residents, Pires wrote the district's building and maintenance teams will put the safeguards in place.
In the interim, the hallway where the lockers fell will remained roped off, according to officials. No students were in the school when the lockers fell, officials said.
The Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards is also investigating, according to Boynton.
"It shouldn't have happened," Pires said in an interview, adding that the district's thoughts were with the custodian involved.
The emergency call came only minutes after firefighters received a report of a gas leak near 182 Main St., according to Boynton.
He said construction crews working on the Rte. 109 redesign project struck the gas line main - the second time that has happened in four days.
People were evacuated only from 182 Main St., he said, adding that the Milford Fire Department kept watch over the Medway station as firefighters were on scene.
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