Firefighters rescued a man from a garbage truck in San Francisco early Wednesday.
A bystander flagged down the driver of the Recology truck on the 100 block of Mason Street shortly before 4:15 a.m. and said there was yelling coming from inside the truck’s garbage bin, according to the San Francisco Fire Department.
A man was apparently digging around inside a dumpster when the driver picked it up and emptied it into the back of the truck, the department said.
Firefighters responded, opened the rear end of the truck and used pike poles to remove the garbage by hand, according to Samuel Menchaca, a public information officer with the San Francisco Fire Department. Video the department shared on social media showed firefighters standing atop a mound of garbage in the street as paramedics stood by with a gurney.
The driver used the compactor once before realizing someone was inside, Menchaca said. Fearing the man suffered crush injuries, paramedics reached his arm through the trash and administered medication through an IV as the two-hour rescue stretched on, he said.
The man, who was conscious when he was removed from the truck, was taken to a local hospital. His condition as of Thursday was unknown.
Menchaca said he’s encountered people trapped in dumpsters during his 10 years with the Fire Department, but crews usually can rescue them with a ladder. This was considered a technical rescue — one that requires special tools and skills — because the man was buried deep in the truck and was unable to get himself out.
It was also uniquely hazardous because waste in dumpsters can include items such as knives, glass, needles, batteries and vermin, Menchaca said. One firefighter suffered a laceration injury and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, he said.
