William Katko, 37, laborer, died helping to save Albert M. Hartwig, 39, laborer, from suffocation, Lomita, California, January 19, 1951. While removing debris from a manhole 25 feet deep, Hartwig was overcome by hydrogen sulphide gas escaping from a sewer opening and slumped inert to the bottom in water six inches deep. Katko, who with another man had been tending a rope lowered into the manhole to remove debris, descended rungs in the wall to the bottom and tied the rope around Hartwig’s chest. At Katko’s signal, two men at the surface raised Hartwig. As they drew Hartwig from the manhole, the men heard Katko breathe heavily and slump to the bottom. A man with a rope tied securely to him attempted to descend to Katko but encountered a dense concentration of gas near the top of the ladder and climbed from the manhole. Firemen arrived a half-hour later and wearing gas-masks descended the ladder and removed Katko. He could not be revived and was pronounced dead of asphyxiation. Hartwig was revived and recovered. 42174-3724
42174 – 3724
42174-3724