Construction workers rescued from Moyie Springs sewer lagoon

MOYIE SPRINGS — Public works officials and first responders rescued a local pair Thursday, Jan. 23, from a Moyie Mill sewer lagoon filled with toxic gas. 

Rescued were Denny and Cecil Wedel of B.F. Builders. Cecil Wedel was airlifted from the scene and sustained a fractured skull and cracked vertebrae, according to those on site. He has returned to Boundary County and is in recovery. Denny Wedel was treated at a local facility and released; he returned to work earlier this week. 

Officials said the pair were injured after being overcome by the gas when they were checking on the installation of a new offline water and sewer system in the hole.  

On Jan. 23, Cecil entered the under-construction manhole to take a quick valve measurement. But when Denny, Moyie Springs Public Works Superintendent John Nelson and Moyie Springs Public Works Supervisor Chris Jensen checked a few minutes later, they saw Cecil slouched against the wall of the nine-foot hole. They said it was not clear Cecil was unconscious until he collapsed into a prone position, which prompted Denny to attempt a rescue while Nelson and Jensen went to collect a rope and get help.  

Denny passed out while climbing up the ladder to exit the hole and fell about four feet on top of Cecil, Nelson said. 

“I would have crawled in that hole and not even thought about it because it’s still under construction, and there’s no thought process that there could be any kind of gas in there,” Nelson said. 

Jensen, Nelson, and electricians on site made a quick decision to aerate the hole while waiting for first responders to arrive, using an air compressor and box fan to send fresh oxygen into the toxic chamber.  

Denny regained consciousness shortly thereafter, and he was able to climb out under his own power. 

“Thanks to John, Chris and the city for being proactive in getting the air exchanged,” Denny said. 

Medical personnel and Boundary County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene within five to ten minutes. Deputy Branden Blackmore went into the hole to position Cecil to be harnessed and lifted out by a 50-foot rope. 

“We made the decision to take that risk to get down there, because he needed help now, and that's what we did,” said Detective Caleb Watts, who also responded, along with Deputy Tony Jeppesen and Deputy Ethan Pittard. 

“They made a split-second decision and went down there and did it and risked their lives to do that,” said Boundary County Sheriff Travis Stolley. “That's what we do on a day-to-day basis.” 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration guidelines state that for confined spaces, a worker should be with at least one other person, set up a tripod, enter with a harness and fall-arresting devices and carry a gas monitor in the hole. In cases such as a quick valve measurement for an offline system, such precautions are usually unneeded, Jensen said. 

“It would have taken him ten minutes to set all that up to do ten seconds worth of work,” Jensen said. “Most people don’t do that because it’s just ten seconds.”  

Nelson said he suspects the gas came from decomposing biomass from the hillside. As hard bark and wood waste from the frozen hillside decomposes, it could be off-gassing into the manhole, almost like a chimney. Consequently, what emitted from the manhole smelled like rotten eggs, he said. 

Moving forward, Moyie Mill will be installing a handful of permanent caution signs, and local construction contractors plan to use oxygen monitors more regularly. 

“If we hadn’t stopped, Cecil may have been down in that hole for quite a lot longer before Denny walked over,” Nelson said. “And then would Denny have called for help with Cecil before he went down there? We might not have noticed those two guys were missing for a long time. It all worked out for the best.”