Man Rescued From Tampa Garbage Truck

TAMPA, FL —Tampa firefighters are called upon to rush into all sorts of unsavory places to rescue people from peril. Burning buildings, engulfed cars and even the occasional storm drain aren’t out of the question. It’s not every day though that they’re asked to breach a garbage truck to rescue a person trapped inside.

That, however, is exactly what happened early Wednesday morning. According to the Tampa Police Department, its officers and members of Tampa Fire Rescue were called sometime before 6 a.m. Feb. 8 after a garbage truck driver heard strange noises coming from the back of his truck.

It didn’t take the driver, who works for Waste Management, long to realize the noises were coming from a man who was calling for help, an email from the police department said. It seems the truck driver picked up a dumpster along his route that happened to have a sleeping man inside.

The man “was deposited into the garbage truck along with the contents of the dumpster,” police wrote.

Firefighters responded to the scene on Hillsborough Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway and were able to get the man out by about 6:45 a.m. The man, who has not been identified, was reportedly taken to a local hospital for treatment.

Photo courtesy of the Tampa Police Department