LI man appreciates rescue from cesspool mishap

The Long Island man who spent more than four hours trapped in an 35-foot hole while installing a cesspool is in satisfactory condition and is heading home.

Nassau University Medical Center spokeswoman Shelley Lotenberg said 37-year-old Mario Flores of Brentwood was expected to be released Thursday morning.

Flores was working at a home in East Hills on Tuesday when dirt and sand enveloped him.

Flores issued a statement through the hospital Wednesday. He thanked the dozens of firefighters, police officers and others who helped rescue him.

>>PHOTOS: Man trapped in East Hills cesspool

>>VIDEO: See workers rescue a man trapped in a cesspool

The Roslyn Fire Department responded to a home on Peacock drive at 11:21 a.m. after a report of a worker trapped in a cesspool, Nassau County fire officials said. Soon after the first emergency vehicles started pulling into the area, news and emergency helicopters began hovering over the blocked-off area. More than 40 trucks from different fire departments responded to the scene. Nearby, a helicopter landed on the lawn at the Harbor Hill elementary school, part of an emergency response team ready to evacuate the worker when he was freed.

A second worker had tried to aid Flores without success and police had ordered him out when they arrived.

Rescue workers had to battle crumbling, sandy soil that apparently had been dug for the installation of a new residential septic system, officials said. Workers put up wooden planks to keep the dirt in place and a ladder was placed into the hole.

But the rescue was hampered time and again by falling dirt, which forced rescuers to cut wood to brace the hole, said Det. Lt. Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police.

Police said Flores works for Antorino Sewer & Drain in Centerport. His employer didn't return calls for comment Tuesday night. The owner of the house could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Initially, Smith said Flores, who had been working in the hole at the time, was buried in dirt as high up as his chest. He appeared to be in "somewhat good" condition, and was said to be conscious, alert and communicating with rescuers, Smith said.

As the hours went by, a medic went down into the hole with Flores to monitor his vital signs as rescuers worried he would develop hypothermia and compartment syndrome, a condition where the organs are compressed.

As sunset approached, emergency workers brought large lamps and heaters to the scene.

Bourne, a mechanic from Bellerose, Queens, said Con Edison sent two trucks to the scene just before 2 p.m. The trucks use 8-inch hoses to "vacuum" dirt and debris from openings and holes, he said.

The two trucks kept sucking up dirt; however the sandy soil kept falling back on the trapped man, Bourne said. Rescue workers finally kept the soil away by building a wooden box out of 2-by-4s and plywood. Once the box was built around Flores, he was pulled safely from the hole, Bourne said.Fire personnel were in the hole, secured by ropes, Bourne said. "Once they got him free, they put him on a gurney and pulled him up with ropes," Bourne said.

With Sophia Chang and Gary Dymski

>>PHOTOS: Man trapped in East Hills cesspool

>>VIDEO: See workers rescue a man trapped in a cesspool