Los Angeles firefighters responding to a call Sunday found a plumber who had been missing for several hours asleep in the crawl space of the house he was working on.
The homeowner said the 50-year-old plumber was unresponsive to shouts or noise and they had not seen or heard the plumber for three hours after he entered their crawl space, according to Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) spokesperson, Brian Humphrey. The home was built in 1958 and has a three-foot-high crawl space.
“LAFD crews, including those specially trained and equipped in Urban Search & Rescue arrived quickly to ventilate and monitor the enclosed environment, and soon visibly noted a small portion of the still unresponsive worker’s body at a distance,” wrote Humphrey in an LAFD press release, “Firefighters cutting the second of two holes in the home’s floor with chainsaws to gain best access, and to assist in his efficient removal, awakened the sleeping worker, who soon thereafter crawled from beneath the home uninjured.”
After an evaluation, the plumber did not need further medical attention, according to the LAFD. (RELATED: Massive Fire Engulfs Church, Smoke Reportedly Seen For Miles)
LAFD Alert- #Northridge Confined Space Rescue 18900 W Knapp St MAP: https://t.co/XStvt5x0Fy FS70; Worker Reported Trapped or Stranded In Residential Crawlspace. DETAILS: https://t.co/5FeiLhkTna
— LAFD (@LAFD) March 26, 2023
The LAFD responds to about 1,368 incidents each day. There were 470,274 incidents or individual calls for service in 2021. The LAFD is responsible for fire prevention, firefighting, emergency medical care, technical rescue, hazardous materials mitigation, disaster response, public education and community service.