A young worker from Pipestone is lucky to be alive after a trench he was working in collapsed around him Thursday night at a worksite in Luverne.
According to Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge, emergency personnel were dispatched at 5:09 p.m. in response to a report of a trench collapse near the FourWay Insulation property.
Trapped up to his waist was 18-year-old Noah Maschino, Pipestone, who was connecting a pipe in the bottom of the trench for Hulstein Excavating Co., Edgerton.
City utility workers were called to the scene with Ditch Witch underground equipment, which uses high-pressure water to break up soil and vacuum mud.
Electric Department Supervisor Rick Hoftiezer said it was an emotional task for him because only a month ago, his good friend Jim Bonebright, 46, of Miller, South Dakota, perished in a similar worksite incident.
“Every time I looked in that hole, I saw Jim,” Hoftiezer said Friday. “It seems like I just got back from that funeral.”
He said it was a helpless feeling not knowing if their efforts would save Maschino.
“You’re standing right there and there’s nothing you can do,” Hoftiezer said. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget his name.”
He urges all underground work crews to take safety precautions seriously.
“Sometimes they get complacent, because they’ve done a hundred of these before,” Hoftiezer said.
Excavation company owner Dave Hulstein said there are safety procedures his crews follow depending on the type of projects they’re working on.
“We pull a trench box when we’re using our bigger, heavier equipment,” he said.
“But this was just a service line, and we were only 6 feet deep. It should have been a relatively safe setup.”
He said experience has taught them to never assume trench walls are safe.
“You have to treat it all as dangerous soil,” Hulstein said.
“You can look at it and might look good, but six inches over there could be another trench and it might sheer off.”
He said he’s bracing for a meeting with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is called to investigate worksite accidents like this one.
“We strive to be a safe workplace, and we’re taking precautions so this won’t happen again,” Hulstein said.
He said he and his crew are well aware of the hazards of their jobs.
“We pray every day that all our workers will get home safe at the end of the day.”
Maschino was conscious and alert during the hourlong rescue, and he had no broken bones.
He was airlifted to Sioux Falls where he was hospitalized for observation, because compression accidents can cause clots after blood starts circulating again.
In addition to Trauma One and the Rock County Sheriff’s Office, the Luverne Fire Department and Rock County Ambulance assisted at the scene.