Icy sinkhole opens up and swallows customer at mini-storage lot, Colorado rescuers say

A Colorado firefighter rappelled into a freezing 30-foot-deep pit last week to save a man who had plunged into the sinkhole, rescuers say.

The sinkhole opened beneath a mini-storage lot customer in Leadville at 6 p.m. Thursday, plunging him into ice and freezing water at the bottom of the pit, a Facebook post by Leadville/Lake County Fire Rescue said.

Firefighters placed a 24-foot ladder across the sinkhole for better visibility before colleague Alex Conlin rappelled into the pit to assist the trapped man.

Conlin discovered the man had been injured in the fall, so Lake County Search and Rescue responded to help with a high-angle rope rescue, firefighters wrote.

“This mission was obviously not in a wilderness or area away from a road,” rescuers wrote on Facebook, noting they often help local fire departments with rope rescues.

The rescue team pulled Conlin and the injured man, who was then flown by helicopter to a hospital, from the sinkhole.

Conlin also was treated at the scene for his prolonged exposure to the chilly conditions in the sinkhole while awaiting the rescue team, firefighters wrote.

“Risk a lot to save a lot, risk a little to save a little, risk nothing to save nothing,” Conlin said.

The Facebook posts did not address the medical condition of the man who fell into the sinkhole.

This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Icy sinkhole opens up and swallows customer at mini-storage lot, Colorado rescuers say."