Worker rescued after hole in north Lincoln caves in, burying him in dirt

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Rescue crews pulled out a person who was trapped in a hole Wednesday in north Lincoln.

Just before 11 a.m., Lincoln Fire & Rescue responded to Belford Street and Grays Peak Drive, which is near 14th Street and Fletcher Avenue.

LFR said a worker was doing plumbing for a private contractor when a 12-foot hole caved in on him, immediately burying him in soil.

His co-workers made an urgent call for help and were able to remove the dirt down to the man’s neck before first responders arrived.

Battalion Chief Jim Bopp said the first thing LFR did was assess the man’s condition.

“He was conscious and alert,” Bopp said. “We tried to calm him down and develop our plan.”

Crews called for their technical team to deliver things like wood panels, which were used to stabilize the walls of the hole.

Bopp said the tedious process was made more tolerable by the use of vacuum trucks.

“We used very small shovels to hand dig around the patient, get soil loose, and then vac trucks were used,” he said.

Crews worked for more than two hours to rescue him, then took him to a hospital. His condition is unknown.

Crews remained onsite to determine what equipment could be left to aid in the investigation to follow.

Traffic in the area was also blocked to allow for investigators to find out how the incident happened.