Colorado Springs firefighters rescue man screaming for help from inside trash truck
Firefighters in Colorado Springs rescued a man who was heard screaming for help from inside a trash truck. Fire crews rushed to the scene just after 5 a.m. Tuesday after a waste disposal operator said he heard a man calling for help from inside the trash compartment.
Firefighters set up a technical rescue with a ladder truck and litter to hoist the man from the back of the truck.
"When we arrived, we did find an individual trapped inside that trash truck," Colorado Springs Fire Department Lt. Jamie Gutschick told CBS affiliate KKTV. "We needed to utilize our ladder truck basically to operate as a crane to remove that individual from the truck itself."
Fire investigators said the man had been seeking refuge in a dumpster overnight. The waste disposal service began its collection early Tuesday morning and eventually collected the dumpster where the man was.
It wasn't until later the waste disposal operator heard someone calling for help. That's when the driver pulled over outside UCHealth Memorial Hospital and called 911.
"From what we understand, he was taking refuge in a dumpster, not at UCHealth, but at another location, taking refuge overnight due to the winds and colder weather, and the trash company was making its morning rounds, picked up the dumpster to empty the trash and that's how the individual ended up inside the truck itself," said Gutschick.
The man was rescued from inside the trash truck and rushed to the hospital where he was treated for minor injuries.
