Man Rescued After Falling Into Somerville Paper Silo
SOMERVILLE (CBS) - A worker trying to fix an equipment jam at a Somerville paper silo was nearly killed when he fell into it Thursday night.
Carlos Barboza slipped and fell and wound up buried under a pile of shredded paper around 9 p.m. He and a co-worker managed to call firefighters for help.
When firefighters arrived at the silo on 3rd Avenue, Barboza told rescuers he was having trouble breathing.
Firefighters used a ladder truck and a torch to rescue him. The rescue effort took about 45 minutes and was complicated by the fact that the silo was filled with paper and there was a risk of it catching fire.
Still, crews managed to cut two access holes in the silo and reach Barboza.
They freed him and he was taken to the hospital.
John Sisson, President of Universal Wilde, the printing and marketing company where the accident happened, says Barboza was released from the hospital and is doing fine.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Kim Tunnicliffe reports
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"He was cleaning a piece of equipment, had paper fall and trap him," Sisson said in a statement. "He had a person assisting for safety. They called the fire department and he was freed. We take safety seriously at Universal Wilde. He and his partner followed all the appropriate lock out tag out procedures."
