Equipment Fatality: Trapped cleaning city tank - Blair, Wisconsin

[DandyDon]

Man dies in water tank as co-workers try to free him from suction tube, WI cops say

A Wisconsin man is dead after getting trapped inside of a water tank, officials say. The man, who has not been publicly identified, was cleaning out sediment inside the City of Blair water tank on the afternoon of March 23, the Trempealeau County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Deputies responded to a call for help at 5:18 p.m. for a man stuck inside the tank, the sheriff’s office said. According to deputies, the worker entered the tank wearing scuba gear and a wetsuit. Despite complaining of “getting cold,” he continued clearing debris from the tank until he seemingly “entered into a hypothermic state and lost hand mobility and strength,” deputies said. Two co-workers tried to get him out, but he became “tangled” up in a 90-foot suction tube, and they couldn’t pull him free, the sheriff’s office said. “Once first responders and law enforcement arrived on the scene, the subject was approximately 6 ft under the surface of the water, motionless,” the sheriff’s office said. Authorities were eventually able to lift the man out of the tank and attempt life-saving measures, but he couldn’t be resuscitated. The death is under investigation, according to the sheriff’s office. Blair has a population of about 1,300 people and is a roughly 220-mile drive northwest of Milwaukee.

Read more at: https://www.mercedsunstar.com/news/nation-world/national/article287047245.html#storylink=cpy

 

[211ratsbud]

I'm interested in how accurate the details are.
Whether he really was on scuba or they just worded it that way.

 

[DandyDon]

I'm interested in how accurate the details are.
Whether he really was on scuba or they just worded it that way.

We never know how accurate news stories may be, but since his focus was on the bottom sediment, I'd be surprised if he wasn't on scuba. The article did not mention if he was a town employee or contracted professional nor if he was experienced & certified or just borrowed gear from a buddy so more questions that may not come up until insurance claims are filed.

This town of 1,325 surely only has one tank and I'd guess that it had to be shut down after the drowning while the town drains the tank, cleans & disinfects it, then the same for the lines.

And a family has to plan a funeral.

 

[DandyDon]

Original reports claimed that he was Wisconsin, but that has been corrected to say he was from El Paso, Texas...

Trapped Texas man dies while cleaning Wisconsin city water tank, police say

Authorities say an El Paso, Texas man died after he became stuck in a municipal water tank in western Wisconsin as he was cleaning sediment from the tank.

www.nbcdfw.com

 

[Barefoot_Lawyer]

I saw water tower cleaning on Dirty Jobs and they pressure washed when the tower was drained and empty. Seems like a better approach.

 

[dmaziuk]

Medina was in scuba gear and a wet suit and had been cleaning the tank with a 90-foot suction tube for about 45 minutes Saturday afternoon in the city about 125 miles northwest of Madison, police said.

After telling coworkers he was getting cold, Medina continued to work and his coworkers believe he may have entered a hypothermic state, losing hand mobility and strength a short time later, police said.

Coworkers were unable to get Medina out of the tank because he was tangled in the suction tube, but first responders and two workers pulled Medina, who was motionless and underwater, from the tank.

Life-saving measures were unsuccessful and Medina's death was deemed an accidental death by the sheriff's office.

-- https://madison.com/news/state-regi...cle_62552b54-eb5b-11ee-aa7a-0f41a0c53ad9.html

The temperatures here have been oscillating around freezing, I would not get into any large volume of water in a wetsuit, myself, and most definitely not for 45 minutes.

 

[OTF]

If this went down as reported, which it may well have, this is an incident we can actually learn from. Headline makes it sound like he got sucked into something, but the article describes him being unable to disentangle himself from his cleaning tool due to hypothermia.

It's not that hard to push through the beginning stages of hypothermia if accustomed to frigid water and highly motivated to continue the dive. To know you're getting properly cold - but you're trying to accomplish a job, not disappoint a buddy in his heated drysuit, or just having a great time exploring the beautiful (but freezing) scenery. It doesn't take long to reach a point where you're able to function in basic diving tasks, but NOT well enough to deal with a complex problem at the end of a dive. And it's hard to admit that sometimes.

Have you ever dragged yourself ashore, shivering, breathless from fighting a thick wetsuit and heavy gear, with hands so stiff you're barely able to disassemble your rig? Well imagine trying to assist a buddy having a medical emergency in that state. Or in this case, manage equipment and navigate a physically intensive solo exit that is more difficult than anticipated.

Don't put yourself in that situation, get out while your hands still work. I used to dive right to that physical limit all the time. It wasn't safe, or even particularly badass in hindsight.

 

[211ratsbud]

I've climbed many tanks and towers and cleaned them live. I do this for a living so that's why the details were interesting to me.