Worker injured in trench collapse returns home

Brandon Heinen, a 24-year-old Fredonia  Public Works Department worker who sustained injuries after being caught in a trench collapse at Marie Krause Park in the village on Aug. 25, has been released from the hospital.

In an Aug. 27 Facebook post, Heinen announced he had been discharged from Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa the previous night and was pleased to be back home after nearly two days in the hospital.

Heinen said he is able to move around on his own but requires a walker because of weakness in his lower body.

“I do need help sitting down and to get my legs up into bed and out. I need to teach myself how to walk again,” he stated in the post.

“The morning of August 25, Heinen and three other public works crew members dug a trench to locate water and sewer lines they were working to connect to new bathroom facilities at the park,” according to Public Work Director Roger Strohm.

After digging about a five-foot deep trench where the lines were located, Heinen climbed down into it to probe for the lines with a metal pole.

It was then that a sidewall of the trench collapsed, burying Heinen up to his chest and injuring his lower body.

Strohm declined to comment if shoring, or barriers on the sides of the trench to support the sidewalls, was installed before Heinen entered the trench.     

In his post, Heinen said he was buried in the trench for a little more than two hours while crews worked to remove him.

Providing assistance were the Fredonia Marshal’s Office, Fredonia Fire Department, Waubeka Fire Department, the City and County of Sheboygan Fire Department Joint Technical Rescue Team, Milwaukee Fire Department HURT, Thiensville Fire Department, Belgium Fire Department, Village of Fredonia Public Works Department, City of Port Washington Public Works Department and Belgium Public Works Department.

Before emergency crews arrived, Strohm said, he and other public works members assisted Heinen in any way they could.

“While we were waiting for EMS to show up there, we cleared some soil around his chest and off his back to basically give some room for his lungs to breathe,” he said.

Strohm said that when crews arrived, the Sheboygan Fire Department installed shoring to secure the trench, and public works crews from Belgium and Port Washington brought hydrovacuums to remove dirt from the trench.  

Once he was safely removed, Heinen was transported to Froedtert via Flight for Life for crush-related injuries.

Heinen is a graduate of Port Washington High School. He said he is thankful for his co-workers, who provided support while he was waiting to be removed from the trench, and for first-responders who assisted in the rescue.

“I had a lot going through my head in that time and was in lots of pain,” he said. “Once again thank you to all the first responders and everyone else for the support. I really appreciate it. Let the road to recovery begin!”

Strohm said he and others in the Public Works Department are pleased to see Heinen was discharged from the hospital and is recovering from his injuries.

“We’re very happy to see that he’s home and recuperating,” he said.

Fredonia Fire Chief Brian Weyker said Ozaukee County emergency services do not often deal with accidents of this kind and that he is thankful to neighboring county EMS crews for assisting with the scene.

 “I’m very happy we were able to have resources available to us from the Sheboygan County and the City of Milwaukee trench rescue teams that came up,” he said.

Representatives from the Department of Safety and Professional Services have visited the accident site and conducted interviews as part of an ongoing investigation into the incident.