Worker buried for 20 minutes survives

Eric Leake

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

A construction worker survived 20 minutes buried at the bottom of a 12-foot trench before firefighters rescued him Tuesday.

The man was working on a utility project on Bermuda Road near Windmill Lane around 2 p.m. when he fell into the trench and was totally covered by dirt, Clark County Fire Department spokesman Bob Leinbach said.

The sidewall of the trench appeared to have collapsed and the man was trapped by a pile of dirt and a boulder estimated to weigh 250 pounds.

Co-workers had tried to free the man. Firefighters arrived and at first were not sure he was alive, Leinbach said, but the man apparently had a pocket of air under the dirt.

"They could see part of the man's body and felt that he had not survived until they noticed slight movement," Leinbach said.

Fire Capt. John Steinbeck and two other firefighters -- Lindburgh Collymore and Marvin Robinson -- went down into the unstable trench to rescue the man.

"We made a decision to enter the hole immediately to dig him out because we had signs of life and didn't think they would last," Steinbeck said.

"We raised our risk level because we thought it was the only way to save him."

The firefighters' priority was to dig enough, using shovels and bare hands, to allow the man to breathe. They cleared his airway and gave him an oxygen mask.

"We had lots of concerns but number one was asphyxiation," Steinbeck said.

Firefighters then put the man on a back-board and removed him from the hole. The man, who was not immediately identified, was flown by helicopter to a local hospital. His condition was not released.

Steinbeck said the man was in "amazing shape" for someone who had been buried alive.

Steinbeck said the man likely was able to survive because he had an air pocket as he was lying on his stomach. The boulder pinned him in and may have helped shelter him from the dirt above, fire officials said.

Nevada Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials are investigating the accident. Nobody with the construction crew offered comment. The truck nearest the accident belonged to Sunrise Enterprises.

As investigators measured the trench, where the man's shoe and sock remained Tuesday afternoon, Steinbeck said the outcome was the result of preparation and luck.

"We train vigorously for this," he said. "We've been lucky, too."

Steinbeck said that in the last three years he has personally been on two similar calls -- also successful rescues.

"We're three for three," he said, grinning.