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Agassiz woman rescued from deep hole

No serious injuries after 10 foot fall at Harrison Highlands development
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An Agassiz firefighter leans into the hole that a woman fell into on Tuesday afternoon at Harrison Highland


A three-hour rescue took place in Harrison Highlands on Tuesday, after an Agassiz woman fell into a ten-foot hole on an undeveloped housing lot.

The incident took place near the 61 year old woman's home, on Woodside Boulevard. Her husband, Agassiz firefighters and local paramedics stayed by the hole for the duration of the rescue.

The woman's neighbours nervously watched the scene play out, in 32 C heat.

The hole is about two feet wide and ten feet deep with crush gravel at the top. RCMP said the woman stepped onto a broken man hole cover. There was some building debris littered around the area, and several sewer and water holes that were covered.

A medivac helicopter was called in to transport the woman when her injuries were unknown. The woman injured her leg in the fall but otherwise seemed in good condition, a paramedic on the scene told The Observer.

Before rescuing the woman, the air in the hole had to be checked for gasses by the fire department.  Rescuers also had to build a pulley with a frame around the hole to lower an Agassiz firefighter in with the woman, and pull each of them back out.

A backboard was sent down, and the woman was brought back up to a waiting stretcher. While the medivac was still waiting on scene, she was transported by ambulance to Chilliwack.

Once she was lifted out and safely on a stretcher, the firefighter was lifted out of the hole as well.

Agassiz firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene around 4:40 p.m., and the woman was pulled out at about 7 p.m.

The woman is recuperating at home.

news@ahobserver.com

Watch this website for video footage of the rescue.

 



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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