Worker Rescued After Being Trapped in 8-Foot Trench

A worker who was buried Friday in an 8-foot trench that had no shoring was fortunate to be alive, firefighters who rescued him said.

“He was darned lucky,” Fire Battalion Chief John Howlind said. “He could have been dead in there.”

Rafael Valdez, employed by Pipeline Utilities of Vista, was part of a crew installing a sewer line at Shorecliffs Mobile Country Club when the cave-in occurred about 2 p.m., Howlind said.

Valdez was working with his son Rafael Valdez Jr., an unidentified brother and Daniel Morales, who was operating a backhoe.

“He was down in the hole digging to get ready to put in the pipe when it just caved in on one side, fast,” said Morales, who with Valdez’s son succeeded in freeing the worker’s face, which allowed him to breathe.

“We just couldn’t get him out,” Morales said.

Although Valdez could breathe, the sandy soil was up to his waist and had trapped him while he was bent over at the waist nearly at a 90-degree angle. In addition, both his arms were stuck in the dirt.

“It was very dangerous,” said Fire Capt. Joseph Steelman, who had ordered the workers out of the dangerous trench so that firefighters could shore it up as they dug to the victim. “That soil was very sandy around that trench, and we didn’t want anyone else getting into trouble.”

Valdez was taken to Samaritan Medical Center in San Clemente, where he was to remain overnight for observation.

Steelman said that Valdez appeared in good condition but complained of back pain.

His brother also was hospitalized there overnight for observation because he had difficulty breathing, Howlind said. A hospital spokeswoman said both men were in stable condition.

Howlind said the trench had no shoring. The state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health requires that holes and trenches 5 feet deep or more be shored.

“You have to do something when it’s deeper than 5 feet in the way of preventing the ground from caving in,” said Jim Brown, a Cal/OSHA spokesman in Orange County.

Brown said a state inspector was dispatched to the cave-in immediately after the office was notified. The investigation is pending, he said.

Valdez’s unidentified brother also was taken to the hospital, but only as a precaution after he suffered difficulty breathing, Howlind said.