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Victims In Owings Mills Construction Accident Identified

Victims in Owings Mills Construction Accident Identified: Towson, Md. (August 17, 2006) – The victims in yesterday’s fatal confined space accident in Owings Mills are a 22-year-old Baltimore man and a 47-year-old man from Hanover, Pa.

Baltimore County Police released the identities of the victims this afternoon. They are Cesar Salazar, 22, of the 300 block of Middlegrove Road, Baltimore; and Craig Michael Gouker, 47, of the 1000 block of Old Westminster Rd., Hanover, Pa.

The men died early yesterday evening after being asphyxiated in a confined space accident at a construction site in the 10900 block of Boulevard Circle, on the Owings Mills campus of Villa Julie College.

The two were pouring concrete above a sewer vault when Salazar dropped his trowel into the vault, about 15 feet deep. Salazar went into the vault to retrieve the tool and immediately lost consciousness. Gouker called 911 and went into the vault to rescue his co-worker. He, too, immediately lost consciousness.

The victims were critically ill when rescuers arrived at 5:48 p.m. Gouker was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS crews transported Salazar in very critical condition to Northwest Hospital, were he later died.

Lack of sufficient oxygen is a common hazard in confined spaces, both above and below ground. Meters used by firefighters to measure hazardous gases and oxygen levels showed that there was not enough oxygen to support life in the sewer vault.

The units dispatched to yesterday’s accident included the Fire Department’s Advanced Tactical Rescue squad and a confined space rescue team from the Pikesville Volunteer Fire Co.

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