Man rescued after spending a night in the Wilmington sewer system

A man rescued from the Wilmington sewer system on Saturday told emergency responders that he fell into the underground network a day earlier and spent a night beneath the city streets.

"This was a first for me," said Michael Schaal, a battalion chief with the Wilmington Fire Department. "I've been to plenty of trench rescues but not one in the sewers."

Roughly 30 firefighters and paramedics were called to the area of Fifth and Monroe streets about 1:45 p.m. after a passerby called 911 to report hearing a voice coming from a nearby sewer grate, Schall said.

"When we got there, you could hear a lot of moaning, but he wasn't saying much," Schaal said.

Firefighters pulled up multiple manhole covers but initially were unable to determine from which direction the sounds were coming, he said.

Eventually, two rescuers were lowered into the sewer. They determined the man was located near a manhole between a home on North Monroe Street and the William "Hicks" Anderson Community Center. The man was pulled out about 22 minutes after the department first arrived on the scene, Schaal said.

The man told firefighters he had fallen into the sewer system somewhere in the area of the Wilmington Riverfront – about a mile from where he was rescued – and had been lost in the sewers "for at least a day," Schaal said.

"I don't know how he was able to get as far as he did," Schaal said. "But I'm told there is a big cleanout around the Christina River so maybe that's how he got down there."

The man's identity was not immediately available. Schaal said he appeared to be in his 30s.

He was taken to Wilmington Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Schaal said.

"He's just lucky someone heard him down there," he added.

Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.