Man Crushed Under Concrete Block Rescued In West Pierce

UNIVERSITY PLACE, WA - West Pierce Fire & Rescue crews on Tuesday saved a man who was trapped under a massive concrete block when a wall retaining fell at a construction site in University Place.

According to WPF&R Battalion Chief Scott Adams, the injured man was part of a team erecting the wall at a job site across the street from the Fred Meyer at the intersection of 67th Avenue and Bridgeport Way west.

Whether the soil gave way under the immense weight of the blocks remains unclear, Adams said, but somehow the wall tilted and fell over as the worker walked behind it; and though the worker tried to jump out of the way, one of the weighty concrete blocks landed on his left leg, crushing it and trapping him.

After fire crews arrived at the job site it they immediately went to work removing the injured man. Adams said the extrication was particularly challenging because of the small space in which crews had to work and the weight of the block trapping the man.

While one group of firefighters diligently lifted and removed the block, another group provided medical aid to the man. After about 30 minutes of careful work, crews took the man to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma.

Adams on Wednesday told Patch he wasn't sure whether the man was able to keep his left leg or whether it had to be amputated.

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This post was updated from its original version to include more details about the incident.

Image via West Pierce Fire & Rescue/@WestPierce