COLUMBUS, Ind. – The Columbus Fire Department (CFD) responded Wednesday at 3 p.m. to the 2600 block of Forest Drive after a report of a child in a laundry chute.
CFD found an eight-year-old who was conscious and alert but stuck in the chute. Firefighters learned the child entered the shaft from a second-story bedroom, slid to the basement, and became lodged at the chute’s opening.
When emergency crews reached the basement they saw that the child was bent at the waist with both feet and head facing upward inside the chute, while the buttocks and back were exposed outside the conduit.
CFD determined the child’s airway was not compromised. Firefighters attempted to free the victim by repositioning the child from the bottom of the chute, but it did not work.
Crews then created an access hole through a first-floor wall by removing drywall. After locating the chute, CFD used a saw and tin snips to cut through the shaft in order to locate the child from above. They were able to reposition the child but still couldn’t get the child through the chute’s opening.
Firefighters decided to cut a floor joist near the bottom of the laundry chute which allowed the child to move through the opening and be lowered to the basement floor.
After being trapped for an estimated 40 minutes, the child was transported to Columbus Regional Health for evaluation and later released.
