Ditch Collapse Injures WorkerPIERCETON - A Winona Lake man was injured when he was trapped in a 6-foot-deep trench for several hours Saturday near Pierceton.
Jim Nichols, 36, Winona Lake, was airlifted to Parkview Hospital, Fort Wayne, where he was listed in serious condition this morning.
According to the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department, Nichols and Donnie Hamby, 48, Pierceton, were installing tile for a county ditch in a cultivated bean field Saturday afternoon near the intersection of CRs 800S and 700E when the incident occurred.Hamby, of Hamby and Son Excavation, was running a small backhoe/excavator to remove dirt for the tiling.
Hamby said he had just removed a scoop of dirt and spun his equipment around after digging about 100 feet of trench when he saw that the trench collapsed.
He immediately got out of the excavator and saw that Nichols was buried up to his shoulders, and Hamby tried to dig Nichols out by hand.
When his attempt was unsuccessful, Hamby called the Kosciusko County 911 Dispatch Center for help.
Around 4:30 p.m., several area fire departments and the EMS were sent to the scene.
Dirt was removed from the trench, which was about 2-feet wide, and fire and rescue teams stabilized its walls.
Some of the equipment used during the rescue belonged to the Warsaw Fire Department, and was used for the first time Saturday.
When Nichols was removed from the trench around 6 p.m., he was conscious but classified as critical.
Nichols was immediately airlifted to Parkview Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Fire departments from Pierceton, Warsaw, Sidney and South Whitley as well as Multi-Township EMS, Pierceton Police Department and Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department responded to the scene. Members of a MABAS Division 201 Tactical Rescue Team that includes firemen from South Bend, Clay Township, Harris Township, Niles (Michigan) and the Warsaw Fire Department also responded to the scene.
