Draper worker rescued after fall

DRAPER — A construction worker who fell 20 to 30 feet while working inside an empty water tank at the top of South Mountain was pulled out Tuesday following an intense rescue effort.

About 10:30 a.m. the 34-year-old man slipped while working on some scaffolding inside the large cement tank that was under construction. The tank did not have any water in it and the man fell to the cement bottom, breaking both his ankles and at least one of his legs, said Unified Fire Authority Capt. Jay Torgersen.

Doug Morgan, part of the UFA's Heavy Rescue team, said just getting to the water tank was a challenge for rescue crews. The only access to it was a narrow dirt road.

"It was a very difficult extrication," he said. "Logistically it was hard."

Crews were forced to first unload much of their equipment from their fire trucks and put it into smaller SUVs that could reach the water tank.

Once there, crews had to deal with strong winds while setting up a tripod with a pulley system that would be used to hoist the man out.

When paramedics were lowered into the tank, they found the construction worker conscious but "in an extreme amount of pain," Morgan said.

The paramedics stabilized him so they could get him out.

"Designing the system to get him out was the hardest part," Morgan said.

Just after noon, crews were finally able to pull the man out of the tank. They then lowered him down a ladder while strapped tightly onto a flexible stretcher. The worker was loaded into an ambulance at the bottom and taken to a medical helicopter waiting nearby.

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