5:00pm: The trapped worker has been freed. He was in some pain after being removed. He was taken to San Francisco General Hospital for treatment. Here’s a full wrapup from the Examiner.
4:21pm: There are about 75 rescue personnel on scene plus about 30 media, including helicopters. Rescue workers have boxed off an area around the man who is trapped but each time they try to move him, more sand falls into the area, making it difficult to remove him.
The worker, who appears to be in his mid-30s, is still conscious but medical personnel are concerned about possible hypothermia and acid poisoning, which can set in when heavy pressure is placed on one part of the body.
2:24pm: A retaining wall collapsed this afternoon at 38 West Clay Street here in the Richmond District, trapping a worker.
The San Francisco Fire Department is on the scene, digging into the ditch to clear debris and remove pieces of the wall to get at the trapped man.
KCBS reports that the construction worker is buried up to his waist, but is talking with rescue workers. He is also receiving oxygen and fluids.
SFFD have been working for a just over an hour and expect to free the trapped man soon. It’s unknown whether he has suffered any injuries.
More updates as they come in; I should have photos from the scene a bit later today.
Sarah B.
Special thanks to David H. for the reporting and photos.
The collapsed trench at the back of the house which is having foundation work done. Rescue
workers placed wood around the edges of where the man was trapped to prevent
more sand and debris from falling in around him.
Rescue workers on the scene
The emergency vehicles on site
Some of you also asked why their were helicopters overhead during the rescue mission. Media was unable to get any good footage from the ground, so they sent their choppers up. Here’s what NBC captured:
I heard the sirens. I must live in the Richmond.
Oh, jeez. I hope the worker is all right. How scary!
He’s ok!! No “crushing syndrome”
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Worker-trapped-at-construction-site-in-Seacliff-98361389.html
Starting at noontime, one of life’s dramas unfolded today on this Richmond District street. Neighbors and numerous city officials watched and waited all afternoon for some positive word.Fire women and men from our local stations 14 & 31 joined other rescue specialists in a well coreographed and practiced operation that ultimately brought out a smiling and happy construction worker from the trench that collapsed on him.
Progress was slow throughout the afternoon as shoring was added, hopes ran high then were dashed as more sand and earth flowed around him preventing his extrication. Finally at 5 pm cheers erupted, he was free and on his way to the hospital. The cameras rushed to get a shot of him, the people that had been instrumental in saving him, breathed a sigh or relief and began the process of packing up their equipment. The pen of history did some more writing today less than a block away from the spot where years before the earth swallowed up a house into a sinkhole.
Here are three SFGate articles referencing the sinkhole mentioned by David H:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2006-01-08/living/17275468_1_west-clay-park-ansel-adams-grove-charles-adams
http://articles.sfgate.com/1995-12-12/news/17821350_1_sewer-el-camino-del-mar-sand-pile
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1995/12/11/NEWS7428.dtl
As I remember, there were two notable features of the great sinkhole adventure. One was the Ansel Adams house. The other was that the owner of the damaged house claimed a Mercedes and priceless antiques lay buried. The city paid out on the car, some of the “antiques” turned out to be Cost Plus vaises!
Here’s another story on the sinkhole aftermath.
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=3191
Anybody know the current status of these plots? I think I saw a sign on one of them a while back. Are they being redeveloped?
At one time a proposal to turn this land over to the Presidio or preserve it as open space was brought forward. Sadly the finger pointing and controversy lasted many years. Here is a link on a story done a while back
http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=3191.
Never happened due to the continual finger ponting and price gouging attempts.
Today several signs appear and dissapear (stragely, some miscreant removes them).The lot was never developed or divided up. Supposedly “ready to build” on the same shifting sands as the cave in. Oh wait, MOST of San Francisco is built on sand.
The sinkhole lot (107 24th Ave) has been on sale for a while now. The price dropped to $1.588m, but it no longer shows up as “on the market”. In fact, it went off market on June 27th, which is six months after it was listed. I think the reasonable explanation is the seller ended his/her 6 month contract after no sale.
There were plans included with the sale for a 5,500 sq ft home. At a construction cost of $300 per sq ft, the total rounds to $1.7m, which puts the price in line with homes that sell on the block. As prestigious as living in West Clay might be, it will be hard justify paying that amount for a home that sits on a collapsed sewer.