Colorado Springs Fire Department rescues man trapped in garbage truck

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO13) – A man was left with minor injuries Tuesday morning after they had to be rescued from the inside of a garbage truck. 

The call came in just before 5 a.m. after the driver of the garbage truck heard yells coming from in the back of his truck. That driver wasn't sure how long the man had been inside, but pulled into UCHealth Memorial Hospital to make the call to 9-1-1.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) says they arrived on scene and learned the man had been taking refuge in a dumpster from last night’s cold temperatures and windy conditions, when a garbage truck picked up that dumpster early Tuesday morning, and unloaded it into the truck.

"It's one of those that I haven't seen in my career. So it's certainly an unusual circumstance for us." explained Lieutenant Jamie Gutschick who was at the rescue Tuesday morning, and has been a firefighter for 22 years.

The Lieutenant says upon arriving to the scene they had to assess how exactly they could get the person out of the truck, since it was not a typical garbage truck that goes through a neighborhood, but rather a dump truck, which lifts up dumpsters and tosses in trash from the top.

"Do we have to  cut the sides of the truck? Do we have access? [And] If we do have access, how do we remove them?" explains Gutschick.

They ultimately performed what's called a technical rescue, using ropes tied to a "Stokes Basket", and strapped the man down to it, before using their ladder truck to lift the patient out and onto the ground safely.

You can view that video above.

"Making sure we immobilized him, so if there were any injuries that we could not see or that we didn't know about, we wanted to make sure we kept him as stable as possible." said Gutschick.

They say the man only suffered minor injuries, with some scrapes or bruises, and they were taken to the hospital for evaluation.

A UC Health Spokesperson says that they make sure that all patients they believe may be experiencing homelessness or other obstacles are connected with a case manager, who can help them figure out their needs, such as housing, transportation or food.