State worker released from MGH after rescue by Boston firefighters

E-mail this article

To:

Invalid email address

Add a personal message: Your e-mail:

Invalid email address

Sending your article

Your article has been sent.

Boston Fire department

A Boston firefighter is visible at the right, deep in a utility room where he was assisting an injured state worker inside the Ted Williams Tunnel.

By Globe Staff

A Massachusetts Department of Transportation was treated and released from a Boston hospital today hours after Boston firefighters rescued him after he fell off a ladder while conducting routine maintenance inside the Ted Williams Tunnel.

Photos from the rescue

DOT spokesman Adam Hurtubise said the state would not release the man's name, but said he was an electrician who has worked for DOT for the last five years. He is 51 years old, Hurtubise said.

The worker became trapped when he fell off a ladder while climbing into a utility room to check on the highway storm drain pumping system, officials said. The man fell about 10 feet, landing on the floor of room covered a foot deep in dirt, storm run off and sludge, said Boston Fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald.

The area reeked of sewer gas, MacDonald said. Firefighters employed similar confined-space rescue techniques they used last month when they plucked an MBTA worker who had fallen some 30 feet inside a concrete pillar supporting the Red Line’s Charles Street/MGH station.

The first arriving firefighters from Engine 4 realized they needed extra help, and the specially-trained confined-space firefighters were summoned, the department said.

Three firefighters quickly climbed down and provided emergency oxygen to the worker.For the next two hours, firefighters rigged a rope and pulley system, secured the worker onto a Stokes stretcher and pulled him to safety. He was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital by a Boston Emergency Medical Services crew.

Firefighters cleared the scene at 3:17 a.m., according to the department.

• Tweet
• E-mail

E-mail this article
To:
Invalid E-mail address
Add a personal message:(80 character limit) Your E-mail:
Invalid E-mail address

Sending your article
Your article has been sent.