Orange County Fire Authority crews were searching Wednesday for the
body of a construction worker believed to have been buried during a
trench collapse at a Lake Forest construction site. (Courtesy of the
Orange County Fire Authority)
Worker’s body found after trench collapse at construction site in Lake Forest
By Jonathan Winslow | jwinslow@scng.com | Orange County Register
May 9, 2018
LAKE FOREST, CA
After several hours of digging, Orange County Fire Authority firefighters recovered the body of a worker who was buried in a construction site accident in Lake Forest on Wednesday, authorities said.
The worker was believed to have been buried at a construction site at the intersection of Glenn Ranch Road and Viejo Ridge when a trench on the site collapsed at 3 p.m., said OCFA Capt. Larry Kurtz. Backhoes were digging in the area when the ground caved in, he said.
At 5:30 p.m., OCFA crews and other assisting agencies were using heavy equipment to carefully clear and stabilize the trench, after which teams would move in and begin clearing the dirt by hand.
At 9:09 p.m., the body of a male construction worker was recovered from the dirt by crews, Kurtz said. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health of California have launched an investigation in to what caused the trench to cave in, he said.
The worker’s name was not immediately released.
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A worker died Wednesday after a trench about 17 feet deep collapsed at a Lake Forest construction site, burying his body underneath dirt, authorities said.
Construction crews handling the grading for a tract home project were using an excavator to dig when a side of the trench gave way, said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority.
It's unclear if the worker, who was not identified, fell inside or was acting as a spotter in the trench, Kurtz said. Two or three dozen people were on-site working for a company called Empire Grading.
Fire officials were called to the development, near Viejo Ridge Drive and Glenn Ranch Road, about 3 p.m. They used powerful vacuum trucks and buckets to carefully remove the dirt around the body during the recovery, Kurtz said.
The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health and the Orange County Sheriff's Department were investigating the circumstances of the accident, he said.
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A construction worker is believed by Orange County fire officials to be dead after he was buried by dirt when a trench collapsed at a construction site in Lake Forest Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
Firefighters have been working to recover the man's body at the site near Glenn Ranch Road and Viejo Ridge Drive. The incident happened at around 3 p.m.
Authorities respond to a construction site in Lake Forest where a worker was believed trapped in a collapsed trench on May 9, 2018. (Credit: KTLA)
At about 5 p.m., fire officials said they would be removing dirt from the trench "for several hours" as part of recovery efforts.
The trench is about 15 feet deep and 17 feet wide, officials said. Sky5 footage of the scene showed some splatters of blood inside the trench.
"To do this, they have to be safe," O.C. Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz said of the firefighters trying to find the man's body.
Since the trench could collapse further, firefighters have to secure its edges with planks of wood "so they don't fall into the trench," Kurtz said.
A construction worker on scene told KTLA the man apparently killed was also a worker and good friend of his.
The incident occurred at the apparent site of a planned massive residential development called the Portola Center. The 195-acre project includes 930 homes, according to the city of Lake Forest's website.
No further information has been released by authorities.
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Portola Center
On November 5, 2013, the City Council approved the development of
Portola Center, located at the intersection of Saddleback Ranch Road and
Glenn Ranch Road. Surrounded by natural beauty and designed to
complement the existing Portola Hills community, initial grading for the
Portola Center development began in Summer 2015. Glenn Ranch Road and
Saddleback Ranch Road divide the project site into three different
Planning Areas, named the Northwest, Northeast, and South Planning
Areas. Questions regarding the Northwest and Northeast areas can be
directed to Nick Lee, Vice President, at nlee@baldwinsons.com,
or by phone at (619) 985-6425). The South Planning area will be
developed by Landsea and questions for this site can be directed to
Brian Frame at (949) 345-8095.
The 195-acre Portola Center site will include:
- 930 homes, including, 613 single-family homes and 317 multi-family units.
- 10,000 square feet of commercial area.
- A 5-acre public park with playgrounds, picnic areas, and sports fields.
- New trails with exercise stations.
- Three private neighborhood parks totaling more than ten acres, including one with a recreation center and swimming pool.
- 44-plus acres of open space, including a 1.5 mile Perimeter
Trail available to the public and adjacent private perimeter park with
trail connections to Whiting Ranch Regional Park.
Landscaping
In an effort to conserve and reuse water resources,
California-friendly trees and plants that require minimal maintenance
and thrive in low water conditions will be planted throughout Portola
Center. Sycamore, Mesquite, Western Redbud, Coast Live Oak trees, as
well as shrubs such as Spreading Acacia, Dwarf Coyote Brush, Penstemon,
and Rock Rose will be planted on project slopes and common areas such as
parks and trails. Furthermore, the project complies with the City’s
Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance to limit water usage, as well as
irrigates with reclaimed water to conserve and reuse water resources
whenever possible.
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a Seattle apartment
complex owner’s bid to force its insurer to cover repair costs, saying a
lower court properly applied Washington Supreme Court precedent in
ruling that the building did not suffer a “collapse” as required for
coverage.
In a brief decision, a panel of the federal appellate
court said Chief U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez properly ruled
in July 2016 that American Economy Insurance Co. had no obligation to
cover CHL LLC's costs to fix damage to an apartment complex in Seattle.
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In American Economy Ins. Co. v. CHL, LLC, an insured owned an apartment complex in Seattle. The insurer issued commercial property insurance for the building from 1999 to 2005. The policy provided coverage for losses caused by a “collapse.” The policies from 1999 to 2002 did not define “collapse.” However, the policies from 2002 to 2005 defined the term to mean “actual falling down of the building or part of the building.”
In 2014, while renovation work was being performed at the apartment complex, decay of the building’s rim joists was discovered. The insured began repairing the joists. The building remained occupied while the repairs were being made. The insured then submitted a claim to the insurer for damage to the building. The insurer denied the claim.
At issue was whether there was coverage for a “collapse” under the policies in effect from 1999 to 2002. The insurer asserted that the policies from all policy periods, even those that did not include a definition, required that the building actually fall down for there to be coverage for a “collapse.”
In examining the dispute, the court noted there was jurisdictional split on the definition of the term “collapse” as used in property insurance policies. While some states define “collapse” by requiring that all or part of a building actually fall down, other states have found that the actual falling down of a building is not necessary. In such instances, these states may require that the falling down of all or part of a building be imminent. Meanwhile, other states have a broader view and only require that the insured show that the building had a “substantial impairment of structural integrity.”
In reaching its conclusion, the court relied on Queen Anne Park Homeowners Assoc. v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Ins. Co. In that case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals certified a question to the Washington Supreme Court on how to define “collapse.”
In Queen Anne Park, the Washington Supreme Court held that “collapse” meant “substantial impairment of the structural integrity of all or part of a building that renders all or part of the building unfit for its function or unsafe and, in this case, means more than mere settling, cracking, shrinkage, bulging, or expansion.”
Under this definition, the CHL court found that the apartment complex at issue was not severely impaired enough such that the complex was unable to remain upright. The court reasoned that “[t]he building remained standing without renovation until 2014.”
Moreover, even as the decayed joists were being repaired, tenants still occupied the complex without any shoring put in place. Given this factual background, the court ruled that the insurer was entitled to judgment as a matter of law that the 1999 to 2002 policies did not provide the insured coverage for a “collapse.”
This opinion is instructive to the extent it demonstrates how a particular jurisdiction can impact the interpretation of the language in a first party property policy. For example, as discussed by the CHL court, three different courts have arrived at three different definitions of the term “collapse” when the policy itself is silent on the definition.
