RENTON, Wash. — The body of a man who was working in a Renton trench has been recovered after the trench collapsed Wednesday afternoon.
Multiple agencies assisted the recovery effort, which is now over.
The Renton Regional Fire Authority first tweeted about the incident just before 2 p.m. as first responders were called to near Northeast 38th Street and Lincoln Avenue Northeast.
Puget Sound Regional Fire Authority said the man was 20 feet down in the trench and covered under 10 feet of dirt, however, workers partially uncovered the man before first responders arrived.
As first responders worked to recover the man’s body, they shored up the trench to avoid causing a secondary collapse.
“So, about a 7.5-hour process, which is obviously a very long process. It was very tedious, but we wanted to make sure that once we turned it into a recovery operations that we were very safe. We were very methodical and made sure that the environment was safe for the firefighters that were going to go down to remove him,” Puget Sound Fire spokesperson Pat Pawlak said.
Crews worked all day to get the man out and used a lot of equipment to do it.
A vacuum truck was used to help clear out some loose rocks and dirt, among other equipment.
Crews said they faced some challenges in their efforts.
“As the soil dries out, it was more susceptible for collapse and for sloughing off. And so, you could actually see the trench from top to bottom, how it was drying out up top,” Pawlak said.
The man’s body was recovered around 8:30 p.m., and it was taken by the King County Medical Examiner to determine his cause of death.
According to PSRFA, the man was a private contractor and did not work for the city of Renton.
Since it is not the first deadly trench collapse in the area this year, first responders urged caution for all contract workers.
“That safety is always number one. And make sure that you use the metal boxes or the shoring that when you’re digging trenches and things like that,” said Pawlak.
The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries will investigate to determine whether all the safety protocols were followed before the collapse.
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