WYANDOTTE, Mich. – Emergency teams worked for hours to extricate two workers trapped in a collapsed trench in Wyandotte.
The incident, which took place in an alley, required coordination between multiple fire departments and specialized urban search and rescue (USAR) teams.
According to Wyandotte Fire Chief Jeremy Moline, emergency responders received reports around 6:45 p.m. of two individuals trapped in a trench.
“Upon arrival, we had one trapped, and one was not trapped,” Moline said. “He was trying to self-extricate the other individual — his coworker.”
Rescue teams worked with Western Wayne USAR and Washtenaw USAR — specialized urban search and rescue units trained for these types of emergencies. Chief Moline said their equipment was instrumental in safely extracting the trapped worker.
“They were in the trench approximately four hours before we extricated them,” he said. “The challenge was, with all the water, the snow melting — it was actually mud, so very heavy, very sloppy, and that was the hard part.”
One individual was transported via Survival Flight to Henry Ford Hospital, while the other was treated on the scene and released.
As Chief Moline mentioned, the rescue operation was fraught with challenges, including unstable ground conditions due to recent snowmelt.
Additionally, the depth of the trench, estimated at 15 to 20 feet, posed serious risks for rescuers.
“We don’t like to send our rescuers into those environments due to the potential for collapse,” he said. “With that wet, heavy mud, it more than likely would have ended up being tragic. So, we had to wait until we had the shoring in place from the urban search and rescue teams before we put our responders in there.”
Authorities are now investigating whether proper safety measures were followed.
The Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration (MIOSHA) is looking into whether the workers had the required permits and whether trench safety protocols were in place, according to Moline.
Local 4 has also reached out to MIOSHA for the status of this investigation. They released the following statement:
“MIOSHA has initiated an investigation of the trench collapse incident that occurred in Wyandotte on February 25, 2025. MIOSHA cannot provide information on an open investigation. Typically, this type of investigation may take several weeks or months to complete.”
Moline could not comment on reports of alleged alcohol bottles at the scene. He did say, however, that it appeared proper shoring was not in place for how deep the workers were digging, adding that this will be part of their separate investigation that will later be handed over to MIOSHA.
He did not provide a timeline for their investigation.
You can watch the fire chief’s full presser below:
