Firefighters deployed the WASP during a daring rescue of a forklift driver buried under 30 tonnes of packaged milk.
The 54-year-old warehouse worker was trapped for more than four hours under packets of milk, energy drinks and milkshakes after racking collapsed.
West Midland Fire Service Technical Rescue team led the rescue attempt with four other crews from Haden Cross and Stourbridge by inserting microphones into the fallen mass to try and locate the trapped worker.
They deployed WASP units to monitor for potential movement of the fallen pile as they attempted to extricate the trapped victim.
Watch Commander Anthony Dingley, who was also at the scene, explained: “It happened in a large storage area with six or seven bays of high racking.
“One of the racks had collapsed burying the forklift truck and its driver under tons of refrigerated products. Ten or 11 bales had dropped down with each weighing around a ton.”
The victim could not be seen under the tonnes of food and drink at the Central Supplies warehouse in Saltbrook Road, Cradley but was able to remain in verbal contact with his rescuers.
West Midlands Technical Rescue Unit deployed the WASP, attaching it to the collapsed racking to warn them of possible movement as they attempted to remove the fallen goods.
Watch Commander Dingley said: “It took us a while to get a location for him and about four hours to release him. He was a brave bloke and conscious throughout. He was severely trapped with the goods all over him. It was lucky he could still breathe. He could easily have been killed.”
“He was severely trapped with the goods all over him. It was lucky he could still breathe. He could easily have been killed.”
The Warning Alarm for Stability Protection provides protection to emergency service workers by warning of movement from 0.1º to 2.6º with an audible alarm and strobe light.
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