Warren worker injured in fall

Staff report

WARREN

A city wastewater department worker was taken by ambulance to Trumbull Memorial Hospital Monday morning after he fell into a manhole connected to a pump station on Youngstown Road.

Mike Yaksic fell 30 feet into the manhole about 9:15 a.m. while he and another wastewater employee were working on the pump station. The pump station is part of a city’s sewage system.

Hospital officials said Yaksic was treated in the emergency room. Yaksic’s fall caused him to suffer a leg injury, said Ken Nussle, Warren fire chief.

Yaksic fell on co-worker Jim Valentine, but Valentine was not seriously hurt and was able to climb back out of the manhole and call 911, Nussle said.

The Warren Fire Department responded to the accident, which was on the north side of Youngstown Road near the North Road intersection and Arby’s restaurant, and pulled Yaksic back to the surface through the opening.

Special ropes and gear were used to pull Yaksic to the surface. Nussle said it is not known what caused Yaksic to fall into the manhole.