Indiana Responders Rescue Man Trapped in Well

SEELYVILLE, Ind. -- With a severe drought, just watering flowers and small trees has become increasingly costly, so Glenden Campbell thought a long unused water well just feet outside his Seelyville home would provide an extra water source.

That idea turned into a full blown confined space rescue Friday after he became stuck about 9 feet down in the well on the property along U.S. 40 near Tabortown Road.

Campbell, 78, was in the well for about an hour before being pulled out by a rope team and rescue responders from Sugar Creek Fire Department assisted by Terre Haute City Fire Department, Lost Creek Volunteer Fire Department and the Vigo County Sheriff's Department.

A friend working with Campbell had attempted to get him out without success before rescue personnel were dispatched about 9 a.m. Friday.

Hidekatsu Kajitani, captain of special operations for the Sugar Creek Fire Department, said rescue workers decided to raise Campbell, along with a tall aluminum extension ladder he was standing on, out of the well at the same time.

Campbell was able to assist rescue personnel with a harness they lowered to him in the event he could not climb out of the well. A three-leg metal pole triangle with a large pulley was set up over the top of the well, with ropes attached to a nearby fire truck.

Firefighters pulled on the rope which then raised Campbell and the ladder out of the well.

Kajitani said an air monitor was placed into the well to ensure Campbell had enough oxygen to breath in the confined space as well as measure for gases such as hydrogen sulfide. If needed, an air vent could have been used to provide fresh air or an oxygen mask could have been placed on Campbell, Kajitani said.

No such precautions were needed. Instead, Campbell seemed a little embarrassed by the event.

"Everybody else has been excited but me. I was just stuck down there in the hole," Campbell said.

A water line from the well into the house was rusted, Campbell said, "so we couldn't get any water. I was going to put a new pipe line straight in."

The metal pipe extends out of the basement about 6 feet from the top of the well, then makes a 90-degree turn down into the well. Campbell had climbed down a tall extension ladder into the well, which is a concrete cylinder, with an opening about the size of a manhole cover typically found on city streets.

"I got stuck down there. I got down so far that I couldn't get my knee bent enough to get up on the next rung of the ladder," Campbell said.

While he was stuck, Campbell told rescue responders that he was OK. "It wasn't hot down there," he said after being pulled up. "I'm a little dirty but fine. Like I told [rescue workers], I'm tougher than a bucket of bolts."

While seated in a chair next to the well as a rescue responder checked his blood pressure, Campbell said he still plans to replace the pipe.

"I don't know about that," his wife, Janet Campbell said.

"We can't afford to hire somebody," he responded.

"What do you think all of this must have cost," his wife replied, looking around at fire trucks parked in their driveway and lawn.

"What did you do, just cause [rescue responders] to practice today? I am willing to pay a little more for water," she said.

Janet Campbell was sure to document the event, taking photographs of the rescue with her cellular telephone. She planned to send the photographs to their three sons. "Look what dad did today," she said while taking the photographs.

"Stubborn and hard-headed. That describes him," Janet said of her husband.

Copyright 2012 - The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service