Worker Is Rescued After 6-Foot Trench Caves In
SANTA CLARITA — A construction worker hooking up a sewer line in Santa Clarita was buried for four hours Monday after a trench collapsed and trapped his legs in mud.
Firefighters extricated 19-year-old Justin Lisonbee, who was buried to his thighs in a 6-foot-deep trench, after an urban rescue team shored up the ditch’s walls to prevent further collapse, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Henry Rodriguez.
Ten units and 30 firefighters were at the scene, he said.
“You have to work real slow because you don’t want any more cave-ins,” Rodriguez said.
Lisonbee was airlifted to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital. He was listed as in good condition, with multiple contusions.
“There were no injuries . . . besides being stuck,” Rodriguez said.
Cal-OSHA responded to the accident, but Rodriguez said it was unclear why the ditch collapsed. Two employees were in the trench when it collapsed, but one was able to escape immediately.
State safety examiners have begun investigating, said Cal-OSHA spokesman Rick Rice.
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