RivCo Firefighters Free Entrapped Worker At Manufacturing Plant

RIVERSIDE, CA — Riverside firefighters had to disassemble a bailing machine at a manufacturing plant to free a worker whose arm became trapped inside, authorities said Friday.

The injury occurred at about 9 p.m. Thursday at a business in the 7100 block of Central Avenue, according to Riverside Fire Department Battalion Chief Pat Hopkins.

Arriving firefighters found the worker with his left arm trapped in the bailing machine, Hopkins said.

The department's Technical Rescue Team was summoned and worked with plant mechanics to systematically take the machine apart until the man was freed, a process that took about an hour, he said.

The man was taken by ambulance to a trauma center for treatment, Hopkins said. His condition was critical.