Man pulled from construction pile

A man trapped under an estimated 4,000 pounds of scaffolding and lumber for about 90 minutes was rescued during a highly technical operation Friday morning.

The man was flown to a local hospital in critical condition with a broken leg, internal abdominal injuries and possible hypothermia. He was conscious and alert, however, when paramedics took him.

The incident began about 9:15 a.m. A construction worker, whose name was not immediately released, was on scaffolding about 10 feet off the ground at a project on the lot of a car dealership, 777 S. West Temple.

Trevor Cowley was in a meeting nearby when he heard people yelling, "It's about to fall." He ran out just as the scaffolding collapsed on the man, sending up a huge plume of dust.

The scaffolding had been supporting a stack of nearly a dozen wooden planks just above the worker. The man was running to get out of the way when an estimated 40 feet of scaffolding collapsed and all the wooden planks fell on top of him.

The worker was pushed up against a cinder-block wall, and pinned under metal scaffolding and all the boards, which fell directly on his legs and chest, right under his rib cage, according to rescuers. Fortunately, the debris formed a pocket around the man's head.

Salt Lake City's Urban Search and Rescue team was called to the scene. They had to figure out a way to get to the man without putting extra pressure on the scaffolding for fear of the rest of it collapsing and placing additional weight on the victim, remove the lumber from on top of him and then get him down.

"It was very tricky," said John Maddux, one of the members of the Search and Rescue team who helped with the rescue. "He was pinned under a lot of weight. There was very little room to work with. It was very difficult."

Crews used their own heavy rescue truck along with machines at the construction site to reach the injured worker. They cut the steel scaffolding supports, which were bent at a 30- to 45-degree angle, under which the worker was pinned. The two dozen or so boards that were on top of the steel beams and the man were then lowered one by one to the ground.

Rescue crews used ropes to hang from the fire engine's basket, not putting extra weight on the debris while still being able to give the man oxygen. Maddux said the pinned man did not speak English but one of the firefighters was able to call out instructions to him in Spanish.

What took the most time was stabilizing the remaining scaffolding and the victim when crews were ready to lower him on a stretcher.

When crews were finally able to lower him to the ground he was quickly taken to a waiting medical helicopter that had landed on West Temple.

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E-mail: preavy@desnews.com