Two trapped workers were not injured after they were rescued Tuesday morning at the Napa Sanitation District plant south of Napa.
The individuals, who worked for a contractor, had been lowered through a 30-inch-diameter hatch into a 1.3 million-gallon digester for a routine inspection, the district said.
Once they were inside, a mechanical system failed, making them unable to lower or raise themselves.
Eight truck crews and 30 fire personnel from Napa, American Canyon and Carneros responded to the call at 9:35 a.m to the 1515 Soscol Ferry Road incident. Five firefighters used a high-angle rope system to rescue the two trapped workers, Cal Fire said.
There was no immediate threat to the safety of the workers, so area fire departments used the incident as an opportunity for training for confined space entry rescue, the district said.
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.
