Deaths of 2 Workers in Mobile Under Investigation
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News
August 12, 2025
MOBILE, AL. Two men working for a business that had been subcontracted by the City of Mobile died Monday, August 11, 2025, and there are a lot of unanswered questions and possible violations of state and federal law that may have led to the death of the workers and the injury of a third worker.
The subcontractors were working on behalf of the Mobile Area Sewer and Water System, and their job was to work on a sewer line and to replace a part of the sewer pipe and do other work inside the sewer line itself.
It is unknown what time the workers entered the sewer line system, but the Mobile County 911 Communications Center received calls for help at the jobsite behind the Princeton Woods subdivision just after 8 a.m.
According to Mobile Fire Rescue, they were dispatched to the emergency call at 8:12 a.m. and arrived on the scene at 8:19 a.m.
Firefighters immediately assessed the situation, and their Confined Space Rescue Team formulated a rescue plan and initiated a response.
At 8:47 a.m., firefighters were able to retrieve one person from the hole and immediately began treating the person.
MFR transported this person to an area hospital at 8:49 a.m., according to Captain Steven Millhouse, a spokesperson with the Mobile Fire Department.
Trained rescue personnel continued working to retrieve two others from the confined area, and at 9:51 a.m. they were able to remove a second person and transported him to an area hospital.
The last trapped person was removed at 10:13 a.m. and transported by EMS to an area hospital.
When working inside a confined space, certain laws and regulations govern the training and equipment that each worker must have before entering any confined area.
State and Federal laws and OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, strictly enforce this area of worker safety.
Besides the training, workers must have Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) including steel toe boots, hardhat, eye and ear protection, protective gloves and when entering a confined space, additional equipment including portable gas detectors, air exchangers which sucks air out and replaces it with fresh air, a tripod with a cable attached to the worker inside the confined space, lighting, and other specific equipment necessary for working in a confined area.
Looking at news video and pictures, as well as pictures taken by the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, the site itself did not appear to have the necessary equipment, and it is unknown if the workers had taken the required training.
Currently, state and federal agencies, including OSHA, are in Mobile to investigate the deaths of the two workers.
We have also been told that the jobsite has temporarily been shut down during the investigations.
The MFRD maintains a Technical Rescue Team staffed with Rescue Technicians who are certified in several technical rescue areas, including rope, confined space, structural collapse, swift water rescue, and more.
These rescue technicians are Mobile firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics, staffing our technical rescue stations and apparatus daily.
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