Fire Crews Rescue Quarry Worker Trapped in Pit

A worker was rescued by fire crews at the Hi Grade Materials plant in Lucerne Valley, CA Tuesday after becoming caught in an underground pit while clearing a jam in a conveyor system, several local news organizations reported.

According to the Victorville Daily Press, the San Bernardino County Fire Department responded to a call of a man trapped in an underground hopper at about 6:15 a.m., finding a worker trapped in the “entrance of a hopper where the conveyor loads material.”

“The conveyor is fed material that is pushed by heavy equipment from the floor of the quarry through a grate that filters the dirt. While attempting to clear [a] jam, the worker was engulfed by additional material pushed over the grate by a dozer,” the fire department said in a press release cited by the Victor Valley News.

Heavy equipment could not be used to extract the man because it might have caused more material to fall on the worker, forcing first responders to use hand tools to dig the main out, the Victor Valley News article said.

“He (was) buried up to his waist, but he (was) awake and talking to us,” San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesperson Eric Sherwin told the Daily Press. “Our first priority (was) to remove any material from engulfing the patient, then remove him and then treat him for any injuries.”

Crews worked for two hours to free the worker, who was taken to an area hospital after he was extracted.

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