A worker was rescued after falling 14ft into a concrete hopper at a facility in Winter Garden, Florida, on Friday afternoon, suffering an injury to his leg.
Firefighters were called to Lotts Concrete Products on Hennis Road, near Plant Street, at about 2.11pm after the employee slipped from a ladder during maintenance work. The hopper was not operating at the time.
The man remained conscious and was able to speak to rescuers, but the confined space made the operation difficult. Orange County Fire Rescue’s specialist technical rescue team was called in to assist Winter Garden Fire Rescue.
Crews took about 45 minutes to secure the worker and lift him from the hopper, officials said. He was then taken to hospital for treatment.
Winter Garden Fire Chief Jose Gainza said the worker was not trapped, but had fallen to the bottom of the structure.
“Imagine if you will, a pool with no water in it,” Chief Gainza said. “He was on the bottom of the pool. So it takes time to secure the patient to devices and tools that we used to be able to lift him out.”
