Crews free man from collapsed Charleroi trench in 5-hour rescue effort

A man was being treated at Pittsburgh’s Allegheny General Hospital after emergency crews freed him from a collapsed trench early Friday in Charleroi.

Rescue workers freed the man at about 1:30 a.m. after about five hours of effort involving emergency organizations from multiple counties, according to TribLive news partner WTAE.

Among those assisting in the rescue were about 20 members of the Westmoreland County Trench Rescue and Structural Collapse Team, according to team coordinator Bill Watkins.

Charleroi fire Chief Robert Whiten Jr. told WTAE the rescued man had a possible broken ankle but was in “pretty good spirits.”

“It was just a total, like, a well-oiled machine working in there,” Whiten said of the rescue. “And it paid off. The individual walked out, didn’t have to be carried out.”

Whiten said the man was talking and was being treated with an IV while the rescue was underway.

“It was pretty impressive,” Watkins said of the man’s mobility after he was freed.

It was also well-timed, Watkins added, noting rain began to fall on the site soon afterward.

“That would have added another layer of difficulty,” he said. It would have been more difficult to dig rain-soaked earth, and rescuers might have been faced with pumping collected water from the trench, he explained.

An air compressor truck was used to loosen dirt surrounding the man and a vacuum truck sucked it out of the trench, Whiten said.

WTAE reported the trench was located in the 800 block of McKean Avenue (Route 88).

The excavation extended into the street and was in the shape of a hole about 15 feet deep and 15 feet or more in diameter, according to Watkins.

Watkins said his team members and similar rescue workers from throughout the region descended into the hole to help dig away at the dirt.

“There was a lot of hand digging with shovels and pulling the dirt up in buckets,” he said.

Fresh air was pumped into the confined space for the benefit of rescuers and the trapped man.

Vibration from machinery used in the rescue contributed to two additional collapses along the edges of the hole, but there were no further resulting injuries, Watkins said.

A mini excavator used in the trench work had slid partially down into the hole. It was secured with the help of a towing company, according to Whiten.

“The arm and the bucket of the excavator was hanging down into the hole,” Watkins said. “We had to work around the bucket.”

He said the bucket had come to rest over the trapped man’s lower extremities but was not touching him.

Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning told WTAE a private contractor had been hired to perform work on a sewer line at the McKean Avenue location but did not file a required sidewalk permit.

PennDOT said Friday northbound Route 88 was closed to traffic between Eighth and Ninth streets, in the aftermath of the trench collapse. Traffic was being detoured along portions of First Street/Lincoln Avenue Extension, Twilight Hollow Road, Interstate 70 eastbound and Route 906, crossing the Charleroi Monessen Bridge, before reentering Route 88.

PennDOT issued a statement indicating “it was confirmed that the work at this location is being conducted by the property owner. This work is being completed without a Highway Occupancy Permit.

“We are continuing to investigate this situation.”

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is expected to investigate.

“They are complex incidents and they are long incidents,” Watkins said of such trench rescues.

He said the Charleroi rescue was the first major incident members of his team had assisted with since they were among an array of crews that combined efforts over four days in December to recover the body of Elizabeth Pollard in Unity. Pollard, 64, of Unity, died of head and torso injuries after falling about 30 feet into a sinkhole that opened into the abandoned Marguerite Mine.

Afterward, a cement-like grout was pumped into the mine void to protect the ground above from subsiding.