Worker stuck in underground quarry for more than 1 hour rescued in Pittsburgh area

Firefighters freed a worker stuck in an underground quarry in Derry Township, Westmoreland County, on Wednesday evening. 

The rescue took place three-quarters of a mile underground at Heidelberg Materials' Torrance Quarry, according to Derry Township Volunteer Fire Department Company No. 1 Chief Mark Piantine. As the chief explained it, the man was drilling a hole in the limestone mine when a rock fell in. 

While trying to take the rock out, debris from around the hole fell around the man's hand. It left the man's hand trapped, and the man stuck.

Firefighters used air shells and hammer drills, chipping the stone away from his trapped hand, Piantine said. They eventually freed him after he was stuck for well over an hour. The worker was taken to a local hospital to get injuries to his hand checked out. Piantine said the man is doing "fine" and expects him to be released.

The rescue effort was complicated by the lack of instant communication between below ground and the surface. Crews relied on people going back and forth every 15 minutes with information.

Heidelberg Materials' Torrance Quarry is the same mine where a boulder crushed a man to death in September 2025. 

"It's a burden off my chest and everybody's chest," Piantine said, explaining how he felt when he learned the worker had been freed. "You got 14 people working on this guy inside, and everybody's trying to do the same job: to get him out of there without any danger."

The man, after being freed, was in good spirits, albeit a little embarrassed, Piantine said. 

"I'm proud of everybody that worked together as a team effort," he said. 

Blairsville Volunteer Fire Department's firefighters were also active in the rescue effort. 

According to its website, Heidelberg Materials is a supplier of cement, aggregates, ready-mix concrete and asphalt. It has more than 450 locations and about 9,000 employees.