Oregon Man Rescued From Bottom of 40-Foot Shaft, Says He's Not Sure How He Wound Up There

An Oregon man was rescued Friday after passersby heard him calling for help from the bottom of a 40-foot ventilation pipe, and officials said he had no idea how he got there.

Portland Fire and Rescue said crews responded to a report of a person stuck in "a hole of some sort" in the area of Northwest 15th Avenue and Northwest Glisan Street at around 5:45 a.m. Friday. The 911 caller reported hearing the man's cries for help from a nearby building. Once there, rescuers heard his calls from a nearby parking garage.

The man was found at the bottom of a 40-foot ventilation shaft, which was only about a foot wide, and the incident commander called in a Specialty Rescue Team to set up specialized equipment. While they worked to set up a haul system at street level with special equipment and ropes, other personnel checked the basements of surrounding buildings to determine whether there was another access point into the pipe from below.

The man, who had been stuck in the pipe for several hours, was ultimately pulled out from above. He was evaluated by medics and transported to a local hospital, but fire officials said he wasn't seriously hurt.

According to KPTV, the man told rescuers that he woke up in the pipe and had no idea how he ended up there.

"This entire rescue was the result of an alert community member who did the right thing and called 911," fire officials said.

—TMX contributed to this report