Rescue operation took five hours
A 56-year-old construction worker was rescued after being pinned by a collapsed concrete wall at a west-end Toronto construction site on Friday, according to a report.
The incident occurred during excavation work near Lansdowne Avenue and Davenport Road shortly after 10:20 a.m., when a concrete wall gave way and trapped the worker’s legs in a confined space, CTV News reported.
Toronto Fire Division Commander Paul O’Brien said the worker was caught in a trench-like area that was about 24 inches wide and roughly 12 feet deep, creating significant challenges for first responders.
Five-hour technical rescue operation
Emergency crews, including Toronto Fire’s technical operations and trench rescue teams, undertook a complex, approximately five-hour rescue operation to reach and free the trapped worker.
“I’m pleased to say that, at the five-hour mark, we’ve released the patient from the entrapment. It was a very complex rescue. Our crews did an amazing job,” O’Brien told reporters, as quoted by CTV News.
Specialized shoring, struts, airbags and a vacuum truck were used to stabilise the trench and remove soil and debris around the worker.
“To get into a site like this, we have to make the location safe for us, for all the rescue workers. We put strong backs and struts in there to support the trench area and make it safe. We had airbags there. You saw a vacuum truck in there that was supporting us in removing any dirt and debris around the worker,” O’Brien said, according to the report.
Toronto Fire also deployed “Tower 1,” described as one of the tallest firefighting apparatuses in North America, to serve as a high point for rope systems used to lift the worker from the excavation.
Injuries and regulatory investigation
Toronto paramedics operations commander Jamie Rodgers said the worker sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries. “He is dealing with multi-system trauma,” Rodgers said, noting that the man was conscious and talking throughout the rescue, CTV News reported. The worker was transported to a trauma centre for treatment.
A CP24 camera captured images of the worker being loaded onto a stretcher and into an ambulance at about 3:16 p.m., roughly five hours after the initial call.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour has been notified and will investigate the circumstances surrounding the wall collapse and the conditions at the construction site.
“They will be dealing with that part of the investigation to find out the circumstances behind this,” O’Brien said.
