Richmond manhole rescue: dead man found in utility hole

Richmond fire crews find body in PG&E vault with evidence of attempted theft

Richmond fire crews on Tuesday said they recovered a mans body from an underground PG&E vault after an early morning explosion. Firefighters say the man may have been attempting to steal copper wiring.

RICHMOND, Calif. - Richmond fire crews say they recovered the body of a man, found dead inside an underground Pacific Gas & Electric utility vault Tuesday, and also found evidence the man might have been trying to steal wires that contained valuable metals.

The man who died has been identified by the Contra Costa County Coroner's Office as 28-year-old Salvador Cochu of Richmond.

Fire crews say calls came in Tuesday at around 3:30 a.m., about explosions in Richmond, which led fire crews to an area where they discovered a man's body inside an underground PG&E utility vault. Fire crews say they found the open utility hole on South Second Street near Cutting Boulevard.

"There was an explosion. It shook the windows. And I went outside," said one neighbor Martin Rickart, who says he heard the blast from his family's property on South 2nd Street.

"It was partially filled with water, so the individual that went in we suspect was electrocuted by the energized electrical lines that are in the vault, felt further down into the vault and was partially submerged in the water," said Deputy Chief Aaron Osorio of the Richmond Fire Department. "It appears that this had been being accessed by some of the unhoused individuals in the neighborhood."

Deputy Fire Chief Osorio says the underground PG&E vault was 20-by-12 feet and 15-feet deep.

Osorio says it was a dangerous operation to try and recover the body. PG&E had to reroute the power before cutting the line, because the site was just blocks away from a major PG&E substation, powering half of the city of Richmond.

Crews work to recover body in underground vault

A recovery team responded to a scene in Richmond where a body was found in an underground vault.

"There's also what appears to be catwalks that were constructed by someone that was going in there, makeshift catwalks. So there's a lot of entanglement danger for our entry team," said Osorio.

"I'm upset. I am shocked. And it's disturbing," Rickart said.

"I just wanted to make sure my employees were going to be safe, because I saw PG&E, hazmat and 6-7 fire trucks," Jay Fowler, owner of Whale Point Marine and Hardware said.

As crews set up equipment to recover the body, neighbors say there have been big problems in the area for a while, and they have alerted police to a number of unhoused people in the area and problems with theft.

"That pole has been hit about six times. They crawl up there and they cut the fiber optics and get all the copper wire and stuff like that," Fowler said.

Late Tuesday, the fire department said after recovering the body, they did find evidence inside the PG&E vault that the victim might have been involved in trying to steal copper wiring.

"I've been trying calling the police. I've been trying to issue a warning that there's quite a bit going on. I've said there's about 25 people I've noticed, just roaming around, doing quite a bit of damage," Richart said. "I have seen them opening up manhole covers, going inside."

Fire crews say this is an example of just how dangerous these underground vaults are, and say anyone who sees someone removing a manhole should alert officials.

PG&E said there was a report of a power outage at 2:17 a.m. Tuesday that knocked out power to some 1,541 customers. They did not have a representative to answer questions regarding the body in the vault.