麻豆区 is working to get new information on a deadly trench collapse involving the city of Huntsville workers.聽
A spokeswoman for the city told 麻豆区 they are going to continue looking into what caused the trench to collapse, but as of Friday evening, they had not shared any new details on the cause of the collapse.聽
City workers are grieving the loss of Bobby Green. No one was working at the site by Joe Davis Stadium on Friday. There isn't a set time when the work will resume after Thursday's accident.
On Thursday, a trench collapsed by the Joe Davis Stadium. It trapped three Huntsville Public Works employees.聽
Multiple rescue agencies responded to the accident, including Decatur Fire and Rescue, and Madison Fire and Rescue.聽
Two employees were rescued and taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, but Green didn't survive.聽
The Captain of Training for Madison Fire and Rescue, Chad Menard, told 麻豆区 that Thursday's accident was something they weren't used to.
"The problem with that particular trench yesterday, and early recognition on Huntsville Fire and Rescue's part very quick was the sheer size of the trench," he said. "Not only was it much wider than we're usually dealing with, it was very deep."
But it was an all-hands-on-deck situation.聽
Menard said there were at least 100 firefighters from several departments, on top of all the police officers and city workers who were working towards the same goal: getting the three trapped workers out of the trench safely.聽
Madison Fire and Rescue was called in to bring their heavy rescue unit to prevent a second collapse from happening.聽
Menard said each agency that responded worked together as one cohesive unit.聽
"We were in a situation where collectively we needed their resources, and ours, as well as we supplemented manpower, but obviously they have enough people, but it was going to take all of our equipment together to execute what we needed to do," Menard said.
Menard said the two trenches collapsing in 2021 may seem like a lot, but he explained why.
Huntsville and Madison are constantly growing. So, that means new buildings are being built, storm pipes and sewage lines are being added. All of that involves digging up large trenches like the one from Thursday's accident.
The Huntsville Public Works employees were adding a storm pipe when the trench collapsed.聽
Fire and Rescue departments had to cut through the pipes to recover all three of the victims.聽
The fire chief for Huntsville Fire and Rescue said he was surprised we haven't seen more trench collapses with the way North Alabama is growing, and Menard agreed.
"With as much construction going on and getting new infrastructure getting placed in, the possibilities increase, you never know what's going to happen. Those events are somewhat rare, but I would say the possibilities have increased for the most part, and we're prepared, we're ready," he explained.
Menard stressed that a trench collapsing is not a common thing to happen. However, if it does, the fire and rescue departments are well equipped to handle the situation.
