Bigfork trench collapse leaves man in ICU

Bigfork Eagle

A trench collapse last Wednesday, Oct. 17 near Outback Montana RV Park & Campground partially buried one man who is still in Intensive Care at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, according to Bigfork Fire Chief Chuck Harris.

The 30-year-old man was working in the ditch just after 1 p.m. when the walls of the trench collapsed and he was partially buried for more than seven minutes before he could be extracted, Harris said.

Though the man's head was never buried, he was under somewhere between three and five cubic yards of dirt, which weighs between 8,000 and 14,000 pounds. After Bigfork Fire pulled the man free he was administered immediate care, including CPR and IV.

He was taken to KRMC via ALERT and was still in the ICU and only partially responsive Tuesday morning, according to Harris.