One by one, 3 utility workers descended into a manhole. One by one, they died.

When a utility worker in Key Largo, Fla., noticed that a section of a paved street was not settling properly, he decided to remove a manhole cover and descend into the earth.

Moments later on Monday morning, the 15-foot-deep hole went silent. Sensing the man was trapped, a fellow utility worker climbed into the drainage hole to rescue him. When he, too, stopped responding, a third worker entered the same hole.

All three men died, overcome by poisonous fumes underground, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. A Key Largo firefighter who made a desperate attempt to save the men also became unconscious within seconds. The firefighter, Leonardo Moreno, an eight-year veteran of the department, was flown to a hospital and was in critical condition Tuesday.

The hole, just wide enough to fit a body, was filled with hydrogen sulfide and methane gas created from years of rotted vegetation, the Miami Herald reported. None of the four men wore masks or carried the air packs that could have likely saved their lives. Moreno descended into the hole without his air tank because he could not fit through the hole with it, according to Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay.

A colleague was able to wear his gear and pull Moreno out. Firefighters also retrieved two of the workers, who were confirmed dead at the scene, and treated a fourth utility worker at the scene. The third deceased worker’s body was recovered from the hole Monday afternoon.

The men worked for private construction contractor Douglas N. Higgins and were responding to neighbor complaints of sewage backup in the area, Ramsay said. They were identified as 34-year-old Elway Gray of Fort Lauderdale, 49-year-old Louis O’Keefe of Little Torch Key and 24-year-old Robert Wilson of Summerland Key.

Monday’s tragedy left the Key Largo community shaken, locals said in messages on social media. “It’s been a very difficult day,” Ramsay said.

One towing company posted a message on Facebook reaching out to the families of the men who were killed.

“While visitors might see Monroe County as a collection of tropical resorts and tourist getaways, to locals, our little island is a small town like any other,” the company wrote. “We all know someone, or the families of someone, who was lost today. To say our hearts break for them is an understatement. Nobody can bring our friends and neighbors back.”

Three white crosses were left at the 106-mile marker on Long Key Road where the deaths occurred.

A woman who lives near the manhole told Local 10 News that the area has smelled for the past couple of months.

“It smells like rotten eggs,” Barbara Guerra said. “It was out here again this morning, and I’m used to it because they’ve been a whole year already.” She said she knew the workers from walking by the area every morning, and would often wave at them and bring them water.

Three sheriff’s deputies who were exposed to fumes were also taken to a hospital for treatment. Five households in the area were evacuated for part of the day Monday, as a Miami-Dade County hazmat team performed tests at the scene. Their tests revealed there was both methane gas and hydrogen sulfide gas coupled with low levels of oxygen in the pipe, the sheriff’s office said in the statement.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is responding to the scene as part of its own investigation into the circumstances of the workers’ deaths.

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9 Comments

1. Further to the warnings below there needs to be regulation about the size of the opening in the manhole cover. To enable entry with BA this should be a minimum of 610mm (24") square.

2. There is no excuse for this type of accident today. Training by management and compliance by workers with the rules of safe working are essential to prevent such tragedies. I remember hearing years ago that workers in the UK who needed to enter manholes should bail out the space with a bucket, apparently to remove CO2 (from soil organism respiration). So, measuring the CO2 concentration in the tunnel atmosphere is also important, as it has no smell and only a few % is lethal. Furthermore, if hydrogen sulphide (H2S, bad eggs) can be smelled, it is especially dangerous, as it anaesthetises the smell receptors in the nose and, therefore, after a while it cannot be smelled anymore. It is still present, it has not dissipated but that is the perception. 

3. Events like these are tragic. My hope is that from now on we adopt strong EHS measures and SAMPLE  the air in any and all confined spaces which require workers to enter for duty; nationwide; BEFORE THEY'RE ALLOWED TO ENTER ! SAFETY FIRST ! Lives are irreplaceable; foresight is better than hindsight !!!

4. ATMOSPHERIC HAZARDS Prepared by Pretreatment Facility Inspection, Third Edition,1996 California State University, School of Engineering, Office of Water Programs, Sacramento, State of California.

   Confined spaces such as manholes, metering vaults and  other poorly ventilated areas may contain inadequate amounts of oxygen or collect toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen cyanide as well as explosive gases such as methane. Before entry into any confined space, always determine the atmosphere with an oxygen deficiency/combustion (LEL) hydrogen sulfide gas detection meter and continuously ventilate the confined space. Follow all confined space procedures and never enter when alone.

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5. My employer, the City of Stockton has us take a lot of safety training courses. One of them was on proper confined space entry. In that course, I learned that 40% of victims of confined spaces are 'would be rescuers'. If there is something in a confined space that incapacitated your co-worker, it is very foolish to ignore the fact that it is likely to incapacitate you as well. Many private companies don't provide proper training for things like this, but it is absolutely inexcusable for the firefighter to have entered the manhole without his breathing apparatus. Surely, he was taught better.

6. Spent over 15years in the drain cleaning industry safety is the last step in India , guess everywhere . 

7. It is shocking that the workers were allowed to enter a manhole which is a confined space. Where was the contractor's safety officer. It is more shocking that it happened in USA which is one of the main country certifying safety certifications.

   1 Comment reply

   1. Amen to that!  This is basic safety. 

8. Having a temperate climate such incidents are rare in the UK but, following the death of a sewage worker in 1975, I designed a safety course to deal with this problem which was rolled out across the Midlands of England and replicated by many others across the country. Florida has the worst of both worlds being both flat (thus requiring pumps to move sewage) and hot (resulting in the generation of H2S from sewage). If anyone wants advice on how to resolve the problem please contact me (no charge).

9. Nothing new here, this has happened many times before and will continue to happen, if no better training and instructions are given. Often also lack of adequate equipment for these situations, like small tripod crane and harness.