Fire crews in London, Ont., made a rare rescue Friday night near Western University.
District chief Nick Hewetson with the London Fire Department told 980 CFPL the Western University police and London police were initially called for a report of a “possible person that might be stuck in a storm drain sewer, and that was under Western Road near Platts Lane.”
The department first tweeted about the situation at 9:22 p.m. Friday.
Hewetson says fire crews were dispatched and got access to a large culvert. The location was around 600 metres away from TD Stadium.
“Visually, they could not see anything, but they did hear a sound of some sort deep in the culvert,” said Hewetson.
More crews were called to help, and London’s sewer operations supervisor was on-site to assist.
The district chief says the man in the sewer was stuck for at least two-and-a-half hours.
Fire crews eventually found the man, “who was disoriented and lost.”
Hewetson says the man climbed his way out on his own, “which was a good sign.”
He was assessed by paramedics on-site and taken to hospital for further assessments.
It’s unknown how the man entered the sewer system, Hewetson said, adding that the man is a local.
The district chief says fire crews were not too concerned with whether the sewer would fill up with water while the man was inside.
“This was a storm run-off… Speaking with (the) sewers operations supervisor on-site, there was no danger of flooding or additional water going into that system, because it is a storm drain system.”
London police are investigating and assessing how the man might’ve entered the sewer.