SOUTH KITSAP — A man believed to be in his 50s who tumbled down an interior well in the laundry room of a South Kitsap home was rescued by a technical response team from South Kitsap Fire and Rescue.
The man reportedly dropped about 25 feet after falling through the floor of the home in the 6500 block of SE Garfield Street and into the well, Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Faucett said outside the home. Family members called Kitsap 911, which dispatched SKFR to the home. The man complained to attending firefighters about having an injured leg. After he was rescued from the well, medics determined he had broken his leg.
SKFR crews had to cut an access hole from the exterior of the house in order to have sufficient space to rescue the man with long ladders. Faucett said Capt. David Schmidt, a member of Kitsap County’s technical rescue team, determined the best way to remove the victim was to perform a vertical lift using ropes, pulleys, a ladder and other tools.
“Because the victim was alert and talking, it gave the firefighters time to work cautiously and methodically,” Faucett said.
The assistant fire chief reported that 18 SKFR firefighters from four stations responded to the incident.
Early in the rescue, the man’s family members and onlookers were asked to back away from the house as the wall section was cut out since the wall shingles likely contained asbestos material.
(Note: An individual may be at risk to develop mesothelioma if he or she was exposed to asbestos in the workplace or at home. Mesothelioma is caused by exposure to asbestos and the inhalation of asbestos particles. In most cases, mesothelioma symptoms will not appear in an individual exposed to asbestos until many years after the exposure has occurred.)
The injured man was transported by SKFR to Tacoma General Hospital for evaluation and treatment.
Fire crew members and onlookers were moved away from where an exterior opening was cut into the house so that rescuers could gain better access to the well’s location with long ladders. Jeff Faucett, assistant fire chief, said the exterior shingles that were cut likely contained asbestos materials. (Bob Smith | Kitsap Daily News)
