MATTHEW HATFIELD/Standard-Examiner Lawrence Tafoya looks into a trench where a man was injured when it collapsed and buried him at the Central Weber Sewer Improvement District in Marriott-Slaterville Wednesday. The 22-year-old male was flown to a hospital after co-workers and emergency personnel dug him out. Man buried in trench Officials say worker lucky to be alive BY MARK GRAY Standard-Examiner staff mgray@standard.net MARRIOTT-SLATERVILLE A 22-year-old man suffered severe chest and head injuries Wednesday afternoon after being completely buried when a trench he was working in collapsed. One fire official said the man is lucky to be alive. "In my 30 years, this is the first time I've ever seen someone come out of one of those alive when it's collapsed," said Weber Fire District Capt. Dave Nielsen. Workers at the scene said the victim was completely buried for about a minute under about 3 inches of heavy clay. It took another 10 minutes until he was uncovered and personnel could lift him from the 5-foot-deep trench. With co-workers look-ing on in shock and disbelief, the man, whose name wasn't released, was airlifted to McKay-Dee Hospital after emergency personnel stabilized him. One co-worker, who would not give his name, said the man was in the trench at the Central Weber Sewer Improvement District when its walls collapsed around him. The Gerber Construction crew, which was installing a shallow sewer line, was not us-ing a trench brace. "He was pinned in there sideways, and so I started digging," the man's coworker said. "When I got the dirt off his chest, I could see the air going back to his lungs." Two other men were also working on the trench. Project manager Dave Gerber said crew members didn't notice they were digging a trench next to a previously dug trench that was hidden. "That other trench is the reason the wall came down," he said.