Man pinned underwater when Wildwood house partially collapses
Image courtesy of the Wildwood Fire Department.
Firefighters rescued a man after he fell into shallow water when a Wildwood house partially collapsed.
The man was working on lifting a house at 604 West Rio Grande Avenue late this morning when the collapsed happened, according to a release from the Wildwood Fire Department.
He was struck on the head by a beam and fell into the water, where the lower half of his body became pinned underneath the surface by a chain wrapped around his leg.
The Press of Atlantic City reported that two workers with SJ Hauck Movers were pulling together the house and bolting beams to a piling at the time. An operations manager told the newspaper that the company has lifted 1,000 houses since Superstorm Sandy without any employees sent to a hospital.
Arriving firefighters donned cold water rescue suits and used bolt cutters to remove the chain.
The man, who authorities have not yet identified, was then transported via medevac to the trauma unit at AlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City. His extent of injuries wasn’t immediately known.
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