Man rescued from back of garbage truck after being scooped up in dumpster on Westheimer

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A man was rescued early Friday morning after he was emptied into the back of a garbage truck along with the contents of a dumpster on Westheimer Road, the Houston Fire Department said.

The incident happened around 4 a.m. in the 7600 block of Westheimer Road near South Voss, behind the shopping center that includes an Academy Sports + Outdoors.

According to HFD Senior Capt. Bryan Zaharias, a Waste Management driver had gone to empty a dumpster and dumped it into her truck. Before she compacted the load to make room for more trash, she noticed someone rolling around inside the hopper. She stepped out of the truck and called to the man, who responded that he believed he had hurt his lower legs. She called for help.

Crews used a Stokes basket - a rescue stretcher - to reach the man and lift him out of the truck. Zaharias said the department trains for this kind of rescue every quarter, and crews were able to use the basket almost immediately and remove the man "in a very timely manner."

Zaharias said the dumpster the man had been in held mostly recyclables, including a large amount of cardboard, which made it easier and safer to reach him. "Very fortunate for us he was laying in recyclables, not food or anything like that," he said, adding that the dumpster was not very full.

The man suffered a broken leg, according to an earlier HFD account of the rescue.

Zaharias said he did not want to speculate about why the man was in the dumpster. Asked whether there was any indication the man was homeless, Zaharias said it was possible because he was found in a dumpster, but that the bin did not contain valuables and it did not appear the man had been dumpster diving. He suggested the man may have been trying to stay off the ground, with the cardboard offering a softer spot.