TRENCH COLLAPSE IN EATON

BREAKING NEWS

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A 28 year old man was buried in mud and water this morning on Rt. 57 south of Capel Rd in Eaton Township. The call to Eaton Township Fire Department came in around 10am of a trench collapse and man trapped in a hole, covered in dirt. Eaton Fire immediately dispatched Metro LifeFlight and requested mutual aid from Grafton Fire Department and other surrounding communities.

Joe Arthur, EMS coordinator for Eaton Township Fire Department said that when first responders arrived scene they found the man buried up to his head and having difficult time breathing. They were able to uncover him down to about his waist and maintained an airway the entire time. At that time he was buried too deep for the local resources so we had to call in multiple resources from other communities. Rescuers had to secure the hole before the rescue could continue. Arthur stated that without the resources from the special rescue teams from Lorain County and Cuyahoga County the man may not have made it. “They did an excellent job.”
When asked how the rescue went Arthur explained that the first thing they did was shore up the walls to make the area safe for the rescuers to go down in the hole. There is about 6 foot of dirt above your head, if that comes down then you have rescue workers trapped too.

The man trapped is a 28 year old male has been identified as Ross "Buddy" Barton from the southern Ohio area. The man was working for a company that was contracted to do the work on the water lines.

With more then 100 rescuers and after more then 2 hours of being buried in the hole, the man was freed and taken to an ambulance where the Metro LifeFlight Doctor was able to stabilize him for the helicopter ride to Cleveland.

Here are some of the responders that assisted with the rescue:
Eaton Township Fire & Rescue
Grafton Township Fire
Elyria Fire Department
Avon Fire Department
Oberlin Fire Department
LifeCare Ambulance
Lorain County Emergency Management Agency
Lorain County Sheriff’s Department
Lorain County Technical Rescue Response Team
Metro LifeFlight
Cuyahoga Regional Strike Team
Southwest Emergency Response Team
Grafton Police Department