Man Removed from Collapsed Hole at Apartment Complex

At about 2:22 p.m. this afternoon, Prince William County Fire & Rescue responded to the intersection of All Saints Place and Ridge View Court for a call that a man was stuck in mud up to his waist.

The man, a contractor, was doing sewer repairs in a six by eight-foot hole that was about four feet deep when the hole collapsed on him, according to Prince William County Fire & Rescue Public Information Officer Robert Wyks.

Rescue crews secured the ground around the man with wood and first tried to dig the man out by hand but after that attempt did not work, the crews brought in a VAC-CON vacuum truck that is a part of the Service Authority fleet.

The victim was flown out to Fairfax Hospital for non-life threatening injuries.

"With that kind of pressure, you don't know what type of injuries he could have," said Wyks.

In this type of situation it is much better for the victim to be taken out slowly rather than as quickly as possible, given the extreme pressure of wet dirt.

At about 4:15 p.m., the man was extracted from the hole using a crane. The victim was then transported by ground to a helicopter pick-up location.

After the man was taken out of the hole, he was immediately transferred to a gurney and put into an ambulance.

Through the duration of the incident, All Saints Drive was closed off to through traffic; preventing residents from parking at the apartment complex across the street.

Crews from Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue and Prince William County Fire & Rescue (using the Occoquan-Lorton-Woodbridge trucks) were on scene.

Fairfax County crews were brought in to assist with pulling the man out of the hole.

After the man was transported to the helicopter location, crews began clean-up of the mess. Equipment, crews and other trucks were removed from the scene about an hour or so later.