Firefighters Free Man Trapped For 'A Couple Of Days' In Underground Sewer Pipe

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Firefighters Thursday freed a man who somehow was trapped in an underground sewer pipe in the Wilmington area.

Crews responded to a report that someone was "trapped 50 feet into a sewer pipe" near the 24000 block of South Baypoint Avenue in the Wilmington area around 12:15 p.m.

An Urban Search and Rescue team was also sent to the scene setting up equipment for a confined space rescue. An Urban Search and Rescue team was also sent to the scene setting up equipment for a confined space rescue.

Around 60 firefighters worked to free the man trapped inside.

The man was originally heard screaming for help from a manhole a block away from the one he was eventually rescued from.

According to L.A. City Fire, the biggest challenge in the rescue was locating where exactly the man was trapped in the sewer system.

Once crews could narrow down his location, the man crawled 60 to 70 feet towards the entry point firefighters had located.

Just before 2:30 p.m., firefighters had safely extricated the patient, who was being evaluated by LAFD paramedics.

"This confined space was in a 36-inch drainage system," said Battalion Cmdr. Ernie Bobadilla "Well typically those confined space rescues, besides locating the individual themselves, there's the air quality down below. It's a very tight and narrow situation."

The person trapped was later identified as a 56-year-old man who was homeless.

According to L.A. City Fire, the man said he had gotten lost and was trapped inside the system for a "couple of days."

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)