Woman falls headfirst into vault toilet, calls 911 to pull her out, WA rescuers say
A woman plunged into a vault toilet in Washington after dropping her phone inside of it, rescuers said.
The woman fell into the toilet around 3 p.m. on April 19 at the top of Mount Walker, the Brinnon Fire Department said in a Facebook post.
A vault toilet is a waterless and non-flush toilet typically found at campgrounds and near hiking trails. The human waste is stored in an airtight underground container.
She tried to dismantle the toilet to fish out her fallen cellphone, rescuers said.
After removing the seat and the “housing” of the toilet, she used her dog leash to try to retrieve her phone, fire officials said.
But she fell headfirst into the toilet.
The woman called 911 from inside of the toilet after trying to get out for 15 to 20 minutes, rescuers said.
Fire crews made a “makeshift cribbing platform” and sent it down into the toilet.
The woman was able to stand on the platform, and rescuers said they pulled her out.
Rescuers washed the woman off, and she said she was not injured.
The crew encouraged her to seek medical attention because she was exposed to human waste, but she refused and continued on her trip to California, rescuers said.
“The patient was extremely fortunate not to be overcome by toxic gases or sustain injury,” the fire department said.
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 12:48 PM with the headline "Woman falls headfirst into vault toilet, calls 911 to pull her out, WA rescuers say."
