Firefighters and police save man who crawled into drainage pipe

RESCUE CREW—Once a missing man was located inside a 36-inch-diameter underground pipe he crawled into, rescue crews had to dig down 8 feet to free him. Courtesy of VCFD

Ventura County firefighters with the help of crews from multiple other agencies spent hours under a raging sun Sept. 8 rescuing a man who crawled into and got stuck in a drainage pipe in the Lake Sherwood area.

A 2:24 p.m. call alerted authorities that the 37-year-old man had entered the 300-foot-long pipe on a private ranch near Potrero Road and was missing. The responders were told the man had special needs.

A multi-agency rescue operation was put into motion including the Oxnard Fire Department and the Oxnard Police Department, which brought a robot equipped with cameras to search for heat signatures in the dark enclosure. Meanwhile, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office supplied information regarding the suspected trapped man.

“In nearly 20 years, this was by far the most dramatic and complicated rescue I’ve seen,” said engineer-paramedic Andrew Dowd, spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department.

“We had a K-9 search unit assisting, heavy equipment with a backhoe in order to excavate the earth once we located the individual; it was an incredibly complex operation. To be able to have the successful outcome we had is testament to the partnerships we have, the training and the equipment.

LONG SUNDAY AFTERNOON— It took rescue workers from four agencies around two hours in triple- digit temperatures to extricate a man from a 300-foot- long pipe Sunday. The man, who was in serious but stable condition, was taken to a local hospital, VCFD said. Courtesy of VCFD

“It’s a big thing to be able to talk about,” Dowd said.

Because the trapped man was uncommunicative, the rescuers had to physically crawl into the 36-inch pipe containing sand, dirt and light debris to look for him. They made entry into three different spots before finding the victim wedged into the bottom end of the pipe against a debris pile, said VCFD Capt. Clayton Cundiff in a video issued on social media by the department.

The north end of the pipe where the man entered was approximately 4 feet below the ground, Cundiff said. Once they located the man, rescuers had to dig down about 8 feet because the pipe depth increased the farther south it went. Rescuers were able to cut the tube and extricate the man at around 4:30 p.m.

“We estimated it was nearly 100 degrees inside that pipe,” Dowd said.

Like much of the Conejo Valley, the area had been under an excessive heat warning issued by the National Weather Service, with triple-digit temperatures reported through midweek.

“From the time we identified where he was, we were very rapidly able to get him out,” Dowd said. “It was less than a few minutes before he was in the ambulance.”

The man was covered in dirt and dust but breathing and able to move his arms and legs, VCFD said. He was in serious but stable condition, the agency said, and was taken to a nearby hospital. The fire department did not have an update on the man’s condition this week.

“I think everybody that was there was just so thankful that we were able to affect the rescue and have a positive outcome. It was quite a moment,” Dowd said.

“We train for these things all the time, and when you see the result of that training and the dedication of these firefighters, it really brings about a sense of pride.”