Rescuers Search For Man Sucked into Sewer System in Lawrence Township

Firefighters and rescue personnel from throughout Mercer County are continuing their efforts to recover a man who was sucked into a storm sewer pipe while he and a coworker were trying to clear flood water from the rear of the  landscaping supply company in the 200 block of Bakers Basin Road in Lawrence Township.

Officials said the men lifted a manhole cover leading down into the pipe, apparently believing that by doing so the flood waters would drain into the sewer line. But the rush of water that spilled into the hole was so strong it literally sucked one of the men down into the pipe and nearly pulled the second man down before he was able to claw his way to safety, officials said.

One firefighter at the scene said the water swirling into the open manhole when he arrived “looked like a whirlpool.”  

At 6:30 p.m., more than four hours after the tragic mishap occurred, emergency crews were working with officials from Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority (ELSA) to pump water from the sewer pipe. Officials said they were trying to use sand bags and other materials to block the pipe upstream of where the man was pulled in, while at the same time using several portable pumps farther downstream to remove water from the pipe.

While emergency crews were trying to remain optimistic that there were air pockets in the pipe that would allow the man to breathe, the situation grew grimmer with each passing minute.

The sewer pipe, which runs alongside the Delaware & Raritan Canal, flows south toward the ELSA sewerage plant on Whitehead Road. Officials said the pipe is 48 inches in diameter where the man was sucked in, but it reduces to 24 inches and then to 19 inches and then 12 inches as it moves toward the plant. There are also at least two bends in the pipe, one of which is a 90-degree turn, officials said.

Once the flow of water going into the plant was shut off, firefighters were able to open several other manhole covers to peer with flashlights down into the water and to use the portable pumps to try to lower the water level in the pipe.

A robotic camera from Hamilton Township’s Department of Water Pollution Control was brought in to help search the pipe. Such a camera from Hamilton Township was used by Trenton police in October 2007 to locate a suspect car thief who, while trying to elude authorities, had crawled about 75 feet into a stormwater drainage pipe behind the Trenton train station.

Lawrence police received the first 911 call about the accident at about 2:15 p.m. Numerous police officers and a township ambulance squad raced to the scene.

Lawrence Township’s daytime duty crew of career firefighters and crews from the three volunteer fire companies – Slackwood, Lawrence Road and Lawrenceville – also responded and immediately requested assistance from the Trenton Fire Department’s marine rescue task force.

In the initial stages of the operation, it was unclear whether the sewer drain emptied into the adjacent D&R Canal. A Trenton Fire Department jet ski was launched to search the murky canal, while other firefighters walked the towpath to scan the surface of the water.  

After examining maps of the sewer system and consulting with officials from ELSA, the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, and the New Jersey State Park Police, it was confirmed that the sewer pipe did not drain into the canal but instead flowed to the ELSA plant.

Additional firefighters and rescue workers were called to the scene from Ewing Township’s Pennington Road Fire Co., West Windsor Emergency Services, Plainsboro Fire Co., Hopewell Borough Fire Co., and several fire companies from Hamilton Township (including Hamilton, DeCou Hose, White Horse and Colonial).  

About 6:15 p.m., with daylight quickly fading, light trucks from Ewing’s Prospect Heights Fire Co. and Hamilton’s Enterprise Fire Co. were sent to join the other fire apparatus on scene to provide illumination for the rescuers.

Township public works crews were helping out as well by using chainsaws and "brushhogs" to clear away limbs and debris along the towpath to provide better access for equipment.

Lawrence Township Police Chief Dan Posluszny, who was on the scene along with Township Manager Richard Krawczun, said it was premature for the police department to release the name of the missing man.

Firefighters from Princeton Fire Department and West Windsor’s Princeton Junction Fire Co. were standing by at the Lawrence Road firehouse to answer emergency calls in the township while Lawrence firefighters are committed at Bakers Basin Road.