Firefighters free man trapped in excavator
In a nearly three-hour ordeal, Seattle firefighters cut through metal and concrete to free a man pinned inside the cab of an excavator yesterday after the bridge underneath it collapsed, hurtling the heavy machinery into a 30-foot ravine.
The 61-year-old worker suffered a broken left leg and serious pelvic injuries in the accident that happened while he was clearing debris from the 72-year-old Princeton Bridge that connects Sand Point Way Northeast and Northeast 55th Street in the Hawthorne Hills neighborhood of Seattle.
The bridge is being demolished and replaced as part of a nine-month, $1.2 million Seattle Transportation project.
Just before 3:30 p.m., the machine operator, who works for R.W. Rhine in Tacoma, was inside a 110,000-pound hydraulic track hoe atop the bridge.
When the concrete structure suddenly gave way, the excavator dropped with it and then tipped onto its side, pinning the man between his controls inside the cab and one of the bridge’s concrete supports.
The worker was identified as F. Lloyd Brown of Bremerton, who has four adult children. Brown has worked for the R.W. Rhine on and off for about a dozen years and has 40 years experience as a heavy-equipment operator, his family said.
Brown remained alert throughout the rescue, said Lt. Sue Stangl, a Fire Department spokeswoman. Medics gave him pain medication, oxygen and fluids before he was pulled from the cab shortly after 6 p.m.
Firefighters put him on a stretcher and passed him to medics waiting on the Burke-Gilman Trail, which runs under the bridge. Brown was rushed to nearby Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center where a waiting helicopter took him to Harborview Medical Center. He was in critical condition this morning, according to a hospital nursing supervisor.
"The fact he was alert and conscious is very promising," Stangl said. "But this is a critical time, and he’s going to have a hard track ahead of him."
The rescue was extremely challenging and dangerous, said Stangl. The excavator was precariously balanced, with only the hoe and one of the tracks that enables the machine to move holding it about three feet above the ground.
Because of the steep angle, firefighters couldn’t use a 120,000-pound crane to right the toppled machine for fear that it, too, would slide into the ravine.
"We had to remove all the controls and pedals just to get to him, and then we had to chisel the concrete away," said acting Lt. Tony Bennett, the officer in charge of the rescue, which was spearheaded by Station 14’s technical rescue team. "His body was compressed into a very small area, about 18 inches around his waist, and we had to really work to get him out without using the crane. It was pretty tough," Bennett said.
Douglas Rhine, an official of the demolition company, was told by his crew at the scene that as the excavator fell, Brown tried to jump out the cab window.
"That’s what saved him," Rhine said. "If he’d stayed seated, he wouldn’t be talking now because (when the machine fell), it smashed the upper part of the cab where his head was. "I’m ecstatic he’s doing as well as he is," said Rhine. "It’s unfortunate this occurred but very fortunate that the outcome is looking so promising."
Sara Jean Green can be reached at 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com