Worker falls into sewage pipe

An employee at Cheney’s wastewater treatment plant fell about 30 feet down a sewage pipe on Friday.

The man suffered an unknown medical condition when he collapsed into a manhole and became lodged in the 2-foot-wide pipe as raw sewage flowed, said Lt. Aaron Boller of the Cheney Fire Department.

Rescuers used a rope to pull the man from the pipe within 10 minutes. He was conscious and alert but “a little bit lethargic and shocked,” Boller said.

The man was taken to a hospital, where Boller said doctors would determine if he ingested any sewage.

“The panic that would set in after being trapped in a pipe with raw sewage flowing would be enough to make me feel a little bit woozy as well,” Boller said.