An oil field worker was seriously injured Monday when a derrick collapsed in Long Beach.
Firefighters responded to the 6600 block of East Pacific Coast Highway at 2:08 p.m. regarding an injured employee requiring rescue, according to Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Capt. Jack Heflin.
Upon arrival, the firefighters discovered a work-over unit that collapsed into a pumping unit.
“The work-over unit is a truck with portable oil derricks on it,” Heflin told City News Service. “They’re put in a vertical position so they can work over the pump units.”
Heflin told CNS that the worker was on the derrick about 50 feet above the pumping unit, strapped inside a steel cage moments before the derrick collapsed over the top of the pumping unit.
Paramedics assessed the man and took him to a hospital in critical condition after he was extricated from the derrick. He was later listed in stable condition after further evaluation, Heflin said.
A second person was taken to a hospital for minor injuries sustained from the oil derrick collapsing in the area.
The cause of the accident remains unknown, and investigators were conducting an ongoing investigation Monday evening.