Confined Space Rescue in Seattle

SEATTLE – Firefighters rescued a man who somehow fell into a tank full of untreated sewage Thursday evening at Seattle’s Discovery Park.

The bizarre incident unfolded around 6:45 p.m. when workers at a sewage treatment facility in the 1400 block of Discovery Park Boulevard called 911 to report that a man had fallen into the tank, said Kyle Moore of the Seattle Fire Department.

Crews had to remove a grate to pull the 23-year-old man from the tank, which contained water and sewage.

After his rescue, he told firefighters he had taken drugs and then he and his girlfriend went for a walk on the beach at Discovery Park. As they were walking, he saw the tank and decided to go climb on it, and somehow fell in.

He said he did not know what happened to his girlfriend, and he was afraid she also had fallen into the tank. Firefighters searched and found her walking on the beach.

The man said he believed he was in the tank for about five minutes. He was decontaminated by sewage plant workers and again by fire crews.

He was taken to Harborview Medical Center to be checked out. Moore said he did not appear to be injured, but since there was untreated sewage in the tank he could have been exposed to hepatitis C and other diseases if he has open wounds or if he swallowed.

About Author

countyfiretactics

Curt Isakson is a 35 year veteran of the fire service. Curt is currently a Battalion Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Previously worked 9 years with the Pensacola Fire Department where he was assigned as the Company Officer on Rescue 31. Curt’s fire service experiences started at a young age as a Junior firefighter with the Midway Fire Protection District and rose through the ranks to Captain. He has worked in volunteer, career, and combination departments.

Curt has held all ranks up to Battalion Chief and been assigned to operations, training, inspections, and was Chief of Special Operations for 7 years. Curt owns and operates County Fire Tactics that covers a very diverse range of fire service topics, as well as Firefighter Rescues, a site that documents rescues made by firefighters around the country.

He has annual contracts with numerous departments to provide standardized monthly training for these departments that respond daily together under an automatic aid agreement. Curt teaches nationally to include; FDIC, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Orlando Fire Conference, Atlanta Fire Conference, Bowling Green State University, and owns/operates the annual HROC, COBC, WOTF, CFT ODP on Pensacola Beach. He is a Florida Certified Fire Officer, Instructor, Inspector, Arson, and FLUSAR.

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