Arlington

Successful Rescue From Water Treatment Plant Pipe in Arlington Will Be Used For Future Trainings: FD

The worker was trapped and freed from a pipe buried about 10 feet underground

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Firefighters say the successful rescue of a worker trapped in an underground pipe this week will enhance future training.

On Monday, the Arlington Fire Department’s Special Operations Teams freed a man who was working in an underground water transmission line at the Pierce-Burch Water Treatment Plant. The line, a little more than 50 inches in diameter, was located near Lakewood Drive.

Capt. Eddie Saldivar with the Arlington Fire Department said the worker was sent to work on a maintenance project after some water built up in the pipe over the weekend. A plug, or bladder, is used to stop the back pressure and keep the pipe dry while it is being worked on.

“He had a catastrophic failure. The bladder actually shifted when he was down, into the manhole. Took him and pushed him up against his ladder that he was in the space with,” explained Capt. Saldivar.

The pipe is buried between 8 and 10 feet underground, according to Saldivar. The worker was trapped roughly 600 feet away from the manhole’s entry point.

On Monday, the Arlington Fire Department’s Special Operations Teams freed a man who was working in an underground water transmission line at the Pierce-Burch Water Treatment Plant. The line, a little more than 50 inches in diameter, was located near Lakewood Drive.
Arlington Fire
On Monday, the Arlington Fire Department’s Special Operations Teams freed a man who was working in an underground water transmission line at the Pierce-Burch Water Treatment Plant. The line, a little more than 50 inches in diameter, was located near Lakewood Drive.

“It was unknown what we were going to find. Was he trapped against the plug and the pipe? Was he trapped another way?” recalled Saldivar. "Everybody who was on scene knew the potential hazards."

Lt. Mike Joiner was part of the team that trekked through the pipe to find and eventually the worker.

We could hear him from a long way. He was in obviously a great deal of pain and distress,” Lt. Joiner said.

When they found him, they realized they needed tools to cut the ladder in order to free him.

A worker was pulled out of a pipe at a water treatment plant in Arlington on Monday morning.

“There was a sense of relief for him. He had obviously been in there for a while in pitch black,” he said.

Freeing the ladder came with a level of potential hazard, said Capt. Saldivar.

“If we were to cut the wrong thing, it could have freed the plug or the bladder causing all of that water that’s all back behind it to flood the pipe,” he said. “It already failed once. The potential for another failure was high, so time was definitely not on our side.”

The entire situation lasted for about two hours. Saldivar said it will be used for future training., as every call is a learning opportunity.

“Whether it’s a child, whether it’s a grown man. It gives us the ability to intervene much faster,” he said.

According to Arlington Fire officials, the worker was treated for non-life-threatening injuries including a broken arm and teeth.

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