Abstract: On July 2, 2005, Employee #1 was performing a service call to the Colonial Village Apartments, where tenants were experiencing sewage backups. He identified the area of the blockage by visually inspecting several sewer manholes and, having determined where the sewage was backed up, entered a manhole to clear the drain. After climbing down the ladder into the 16-ft-deep manhole, he passed out at the bottom of the ladder. A call was made to emergency medical services, and the fire department responded to the scene. Emergency personnel measured the oxygen level inside the manhole at 4 percent and detected a combustible atmosphere. The manhole was purged prior to recovery efforts. When the employee was reached, he had no respiration and no pulse. He had been asphyxiated.