NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A worker was injured Tuesday morning after falling into an empty tank at the wastewater treatment plant in Bordeaux.
Police said the 57-year-old man was cleaning sludge inside a spare tank around 6 a.m. when he slipped and fell off a ladder about eight to 12 feet in the tank. The plant is located on County Hospital Road.
"They were actually cleaning the tank. We used these tanks at one point for a part of the treatment process, but that process has been decommissioned, so we're cleaning the tanks out and removing the covers from those tanks," said David Tucker with the plant.
The fire department's Hazmat Confined Space Rescue Unit deployed, and used an aerial ladder truck to reach the top of the tank.
"One of our primary concerns is atmosphere. So we had to start monitoring. We did air sampling and then we have to ventilate the area to make the air, so that we can go into it," Mike Franklin explained.
In this case, no additional air was needed to support the firefighters who went into the tank.
A paramedic was lowered to the victim to assess his injuries. The man hurt his back, neck and shoulder during the fall.
The man was pulled up on a stretcher after about an hour, and taken down to an ambulance by a fire truck ladder.
He was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. His identity was not released.
