Twin Cities Urbex Club

https://www.twincities.com/2007/07/25/t ... ls-sewers/

7/25/2007 Two workers missing in St. Paul’s sewers

St. Paul fire and rescue officials descended desperately 150 feet below the city’s surface Thursday evening searching for two missing sewer workers lost in the run-off from a torrential rainstorm.

Of seven workers who went into the storm sewer system Thursday only five came out when a call for an emergency evacuation was made, according to a spokesman with Lametti and Sons Inc., a Hugo, Minn.-based contractor.

Contractors were working below ground in the Frogtown area near a main shaft at Avon Street and Edmund Avenue when the emergency exit call was issued just after 3 p.m.

Bob Kraft, a spokesman for the contracting firm, said two of the workers immediately ascended from a main shaft on a crane-operated bucket leaving five men still in the tunnel.

When the foreman still below ground saw six inches of water at his feet decided to go to a second exit point about 1,400 feet upstream to the northwest, Kraft said, where the five could exit by a staircase.

After getting up the stairs, only three appeared on the surface, he said. The three workers immediately went back into the tunnel where the water was reaching above their knees. They searched for their missing companions all the way down to where the sewer exits into the Mississippi River. They were not able to find them.

By the end of their search the water had receded to less than an inch.

“They felt the best thing was to go right back down … The policy is just exactly that,” Kraft said.

He added that the emergency evacuation is typically triggered by weather service reports. But as far as how those reports are monitored and how decisions are made “I’m not sure about that.”

Kraft would not identify the missing workers, saying only that they are men.

Fire Department officials received a call at 7:17 p.m. and put teams into the sewer system at 8:30 p.m.

Teams went into the system at Victoria Street and Lafond Avenue as well as at Chatsworth Street and Concordia Avenue.

The sewer lines the teams walked down – eight-feet diameter tunnels – merged into a main storm sewer line that traveled all the way to the Mississippi River.

Six fire companies and other rescue officials traveled to access points to communicate with the search teams.

The search ended on the Mississippi River front, where several family members waited in the shadow of the Wabasha Street Bridge.

As the hours wore on, the family members walked shakily across Shepard Avenue to meet with fire officials for word of their loved ones.

Family members could only shake their heads numbly when asked if there was anything they wanted to say.

Water patrol boats searched the river for sign of the missing workers.

Interim Fire Chief Bob Morrison said at 11 p.m. that rescue teams had scoured the line “a couple of times.” Morrison added that fire officials intended to break off the search in the next half hour.

However, just before midnight rescue workers again descended into the hole at the base of the river after more family members showed up at the scene. They ended the search shortly after midnight.

The search would resume, if necessary, at sunrise today with boats in the river, officials said.

“The search is still going on,” said Bob Hume, spokesman for St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. “Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with the families. That’s really all we can say now.”

Lametti and Sons Inc. have been working on the city’s sewer system since February. Kraft said the firm has worked with the city of St. Paul for decades.

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7/27/2007 Body found in search for missing Minnesota sewer workers

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Recovery crews found the body of a missing sewer worker in the Mississippi River a day after he and another man were caught deep below the city's streets during a heavy rain.

The body of Dave Yasis, 23, of Maplewood was found at about 6 p.m. Friday about 15 feet from where a sewer line drains into the river, Ramsey County Sheriff's Cmdr. Joe Paget said.

The search for the man Yasis was working with, 34-year-old Joe Harlow of Plainview, was set to resume early Saturday.

Family and friends gathered near the river Friday morning as boats moved back and forth in an effort to locate the men. Dennis Yasis, 25, was hopeful his brother would be found alive.

"He's there somewhere," Dennis Yasis said. "I'm trying to stay strong."

That hopefulness vanished when his brother's body was found floating about 14 feet below the surface at a spot where crews had narrowed their search. Crews also searched the sewers, which have tunnels ranging from 7 1/2 feet to 12 feet in diameter.

Eight people were working as contractors on the city's $4 million sewer restoration project Thursday. They were about 150 feet below ground when they were told to evacuate ahead of a thunderstorm. Six workers made it out safely.

Robert Kasper, the business agent for the Laborers Union Local 132, which represents the missing men, said union members were grieving.
"It's sad," he said. "I mean, they could be anywhere."

Kasper said Hugo-based contracting company Lametti and Sons Inc. had a good reputation for safety. "It was a fluke thing," he said.

The union was offering counseling to family members. The police chaplain also was at the riverbank to help, and some people showed up with hot dogs, chips and drinks as mourners set up camp along the bank.

Marion and Donald Beckman of Blaine were also at the river early Friday. They said Harlow, the other missing man, was Marion's nephew. He was married with four children.

"We're all praying for him," Donald Beckman said.

Arnold Kraft, a spokesman for Lametti and Sons, said the workers were told to get out of the sewers shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday as a line of thunderstorms approached.

Two men were lifted out in a bucket by a crane. The rest moved to another exit point with a staircase. With the water waist-high, the men climbed the stairs. When they reached the surface, they realized two men were missing, Kraft said.

Kraft said they immediately went back into the tunnel, where the water rapidly receded, and searched all the way to where the sewer enters the Mississippi River but were not able to find the missing men.

The Fire Department was notified at 7:17 p.m. and firefighters searched into the night.

According to the National Weather Service, about .44 inches of rain fell in St. Paul in about 30 minutes.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2007/07/27/sewerworkers

7/27/2007 Rescuers recover body of second missing sewer worker

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - The body of a second sewer worker who was caught beneath the city's streets during a heavy rain was recovered from the Mississippi River on Saturday, authorities said.

The body of Joe Harlow, 34, of Plainview, was found around 4:15 p.m. near a spillway where a storm sewer line drains into the river, Ramsey County Sheriff's Cmdr. Joe Paget said. On Friday evening, recovery crews found the body of Dave Yasis, 23, of Maplewood in the river near the same spot.

Harlow and Yasis, along with six others, were working on a sewer restoration project Thursday when a storm swept through the Twin Cities area. They were about 150 feet below ground when they were told to evacuate. Six workers made it out safely; two were lifted out in a bucket by a crane while the rest moved to another exit point with a staircase and climbed out.

According to the National Weather Service, about .44 inches of rain fell in St. Paul in about 30 minutes.

At 8 a.m. Saturday, crews from the Ramsey County Water Patrol, St. Paul Fire Department, Lametti & Sons construction firm - which employed the men - and Upper River Services began searching an area near the spillway.

Harlow's body was found just 15 yards from where Yasis was found. Harlow was married with four children.

Paget said he hoped the discovery "helps this family put closure to a tragic incident."

Meanwhile, state investigators have started to look into what caused the tragedy.

Investigators from Minnesota's Occupational Safety and Health Division were checking the training and evacuation procedures of Lametti & Sons, which is based in Hugo.