MELFORT — A backhoe operated by a worker at a construction site in Melfort slid into an embankment, requiring rescue from emergency responders.
“It looked like wherever he was working part of the embankment gave away,” said Shaun Stewart, Melfort’s fire chief.
“I don’t know 100 per cent if that’s what went on, I was more worried where he was afterwards and getting him out.”
The Melfort Fire Department responded to the call on Nov. 26 at 1:18 p.m.
When crews arrived they had found that the operator had exited the backhoe and was in a heated area of the construction site.
Crews used a ladder to reach him, and conducted a pre-screen evaluation.
After being evaluated by EMS, the man was able to climb down the ladder with assistance.
He was then transferred to the hospital.
“Last I heard, he was in good condition,” Stewart said.
“There were three different emergency services there, us, RCMP and EMS, and we all functioned well as a team together to organize so we could get the patient out and where they needed to go.”
Stewart said with excavation sites where heavy machinery is involved, an accident is always a possible factor.
“Does it happen all the time? No. Sometimes it just depends on the soil structure that’s there, is there a fault line that they didn’t know? You just put the weight in the right spot and part of it gives way.”
