The man was working at A&A Concrete Supply Inc., 10250 Linne Road, around 3:30 p.m. when the incident occurred, according to David Bramell, division chief with the Tracy Fire Department.
Bramell said the victim worked for Express Chipping, based in the Los Angeles area, which was contracted by A&A Concrete Supply to clean the inside of its mixers. Over time, concrete can dry and harden in the drums, he said.
“In the course of that process, he chipped off a large piece that pinned him inside the drum,” Bramell said.
Other workers in the area immediately realized what happened and began to try and free the man. However, he was trapped by a piece of concrete estimated to weigh about 1,800 pounds, he said.
Firefighters arrived on the scene but were not able to remove the rubble from around the man until about 4:50 p.m. His body was removed from the mixer, which is mounted on the back of a truck, around 5:05 p.m., according to Bramell.
“After people accessed him, we determined that the injuries he had sustained were fatal, so then it switched to a recovery operation,” he said.
A medical helicopter was spotted flying over the scene around 4 p.m. however it never landed.
Firefighters were also seen carrying tool boxes and a hydraulic pump capable of lifting large pieces of concrete.
Bramell didn’t release the name of the victim.
Express Chipping was permitted to do the work, and no regulations appeared to be broken, Bramell said.
• Contact Joel Danoy at 830-4229 or jdanoy@tracypress.com.
I was in the glass business for 22 years and know what you brought up is accurate, construction and many other jobs are inherently dangerous regardless of the safety measures in place. This was a terrible accident and unfortunately will probably not be the last.
I was in the glass biz long before the new age of safety came about and we use to laugh at guy's who always wore protective gear. Some jobs dictated it but for the most part we accepted getting cut here & there as part of the trade. We simply tried employing enough safety measures to avoid having anything major happen.
Since he was buried in th rubble on th inside of th drum where he was chippin it off, turnin th drum would have th effect of turinin him inta a Slurpee. If he had been on top of it inside th drumb, as yer comment may be suggestin by "turinin" th dumb, thair was evidently as much on one side of th drum as th other an he would have really been no safer in that situation either.
Some jobs are hazardous an all ya can do is ta be as careful as ya can. Even then, sometimes yer number gets called an that's th way it is. This seems ta be a rare actual accident an about th only real way it might have been prevented is if it was ensured no materials were left in th drum long enough ta solidify. In it's pliant state it's water soluble but if allowed ta sit will still solidify under water. In fact it actually is harder if it hardens under water.
Unfortunate accident an who ever made th comment about cushy desk jobs and who builds houses, roads an stuff is a very valid comment.
My condolences to this man's family and friends.
Hey lets just not worry about the potential for a ton slab falling on peoples skulls.
No regulations broken? What regulations might those be again?
Sorry for the somewhat long rambling. My point was construction is dangerous but the risk can be lessened when people are paying attention to their surroundings. Possibly this man wasn't paying attention as much as he should have been or it was merely a freak accident. We can't all have a cushy office job or else who would build your foundations, swimmin pools and driveways?