Man rescued after falling into vault toilet at California campground

A man had to be rescued from a vault toilet at a Sierra Nevada campground after falling in while trying to retrieve his sunglasses.

The accident happened around 2:15 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, at Camp Edison, on the west shore of Shaver Lake.

Emergency workers were called when the man was heard yelling for help. They found him trapped in the holding pit of the no-flush toilet.

He was pulled to safety after having been stuck there for about 15 minutes. “Due to his exposure to urine, fecal matter and chemicals, he was put through a decontamination process,” the Fresno County Sheriff’s report said. He was “otherwise unharmed,” it added.

The report included a warning against trying to retrieve dropped items from vault toilets, saying that the depth makes it “nearly impossible for someone to rescue themselves if they fall in.”

Four years ago, a California woman fell headfirst into a vault toilet in Washington’s Olympic National Park. She tumbled in while trying to retrieve her phone.

She did manage to find the phone, which still worked, and after 20 minutes of unsuccessfully attempting to climb out, she used it to call 911.

Vault toilets on national recreation land generally have a pit at least 5 feet deep that can hold more than 500 gallons of waste.

(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *