Port Supervisor Buried Inside Coal Shed Is Rescued

A supervisor at the Port of Long Beach was rescued Tuesday after an avalanche inside a coal shed buried him up to his neck and broke his leg, authorities said.

Sixteen members of the Long Beach Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue team arrived shortly after the 11 a.m. accident and struggled for an hour to free Reginald Garcia, 38, a Metropolitan Stevedore employee who port officials say was scheduled to leave his job this week and move to Hawaii.

Garcia had been called to the shed on Pier G Avenue after an earthmover preparing to load coal onto a ship became stuck in the shed, Battalion Chief Jack Bender said. When Garcia went to inspect the front of the vehicle, the coal shifted behind him, forcing him against the tractor’s scoop and snapping his leg, Bender said.