Two people rescued after getting stuck in boiler in Millbury

Firefighters responded after two people got stuck 30 feet down in a boiler in Millbury.

Millbury Fire Chief Richard Hamilton said two contracted workers using rented equipment were stuck 30 feet down in a 70-foot-deep boiler at Wheelabrator, a plant that converts waste into energy.

"They go up to the ninth floor, most of them by elevator, and then from there, you have to work in kind of a crowded space to put equipment," Hamilton said. "They had to go 30 feet down from there."

Hamilton said one of their cables apparently jammed and wouldn't allow them to go up or down.

If you can imagine what window washers use in a high rise, that’s exactly what they had," Hamilton said. "So one cable was good, the other cable jammed. They couldn’t get up or down."

The Auburn Fire Rescue Department said four members of their Tech Team responded in the incident.

The Millbury Fire Department Command reported around 4:35 p.m. that the victims and the equipment were removed from the broiler, and no injuries were reported.

"They pulled everything out, including the equipment that got ruined while they were down there," Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the two men didn't have to go to the hospital, and stayed on the job after the incident.

"24-25 years they’ve been here," Hamilton said. "This is the first time we’ve ever had to do this."

30 tech rescuers from 15 cities and towns arrived with winches and safety harnesses in the rescue, and the Millbury Fire Chief said the men already had harnesses on.

"If you did something wrong, you’d drop them down an additional 40 feet," Hamilton said. "So they weren’t injured and we wanted to make sure they didn’t get injured."

Hamilton said Wheelabrator buys and donates equipment to the fire department to make these rescues if needed.

The tech rescue team had just bought equipment for use in an emergency like this incident, and took it out of the box for this instance.

Boston 25 News reporter Christine McCarthy is on her way to the scene to gather more information.

Cox Media Group