Construction Worker Dies In Manhole During 4-Hour Rescue Mission

STREAMWOOD, IL — A man working on a sewer line in a manhole in Streamwood Wednesday night was found dead after firefighters spent four hours working to free him in what was considered a rescue mission the entire time. Media reports have identified the victim as 22-year-old Brett Morrow of Gurnee.

Firefighters in the northwest suburb responded to the manhole near Park Boulevard and Parkside Circle around 6:15 p.m., the Daily Herald reports. They began the long rescue mission once two firefighters saw the feet of the man in a 20-inch diameter pipe just north of the manhole.

Rescuers could not reach the man right away because “a large quantity of hardened lining material was blocking the pipe,” officials said in a statement retrieved by the Chicago Sun-Times. They did not know he was dead until they were able to pull him out at 10 p.m., after nearly four hours of chipping away at the hardened lining. The victim was pronounced dead at 10:32 p.m.

Morrow was a contractor who was adding a fiberglass lining to the sewer line. Officials believe the lining hardened after he sprayed inside and the 22-year-old became trapped.

Police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will conduct investigations.

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