It was all hands on deck to rescue a man who was trapped in a trench that was roughly three metres deep. Crews were called to Verdun Avenue shortly after 8 a.m on Tuesday. According to Oshawa fire chief Derrick Clark, “he was under some heavy equipment that dislodged and fell on him.” That heavy equipment turned out to be the front loader off of a backhoe.

The man, in his late 40’s, was conscious and talking to the crews during the extraction process but things needed to move quickly, so the talking stopped. Fire crews formed a plan where they would lift the equipment up with the use of rope and chains and they would then lift the victim out.

Nervous residents in the neighbourhood watched while crews performed CPR because there were no vital signs present. ORNG ambulance was stationed at a nearby park, but paramedics made the call to rush the victim by ground to Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa via ambulance.

Since the man had been working as part of a water abatement project, the ministry of labour has been notified and was at the scene for the rest of the day investigating.  Chief Clark says that “at this point, it’s unclear what caused the bucket to fall.”

There is no update on his condition at this time.