Firefighters called to rescue maintenance man trapped in church organ

1 August 2022, 11:36

An organ technician became trapped behind the pipes of a 20th-century Canadian instrument last week.

A man was taken to hospital following minor injuries sustained after becoming trapped in a church organ on Wednesday morning.

Canada’s Victoria Fire Department responded to a call made just before midday last week reporting “a person trapped in a pipe organ” at a local church.

The incident took place at St. John the Divine Anglican Church on Vancouver Island, where an organ technician had been performing maintenance on a 1961 Casavant organ.

After being stuck for a short period of time, the maintenance man was able to free himself from the pipes into a larger area with a trap door.

The fire brigade were able to access this trap door and lower him back down to the ground.

Read more: Coronavirus trapped Bolivian orchestra in ‘haunted’ German castle surrounded by wolves

How does a pipe organ actually work? | Anna Lapwood | Classic FM

Paramedics were on the scene and assessed the technician before taking him to hospital. The organ technician was fully conscious when he left the church.

The church later clarified on Facebook that their organ technician was “checked out at the hospital”, and was doing “ok!”.

Captain Rich Sulsbury of the Victoria Fire Department explained to CTV News Vancouver Island that the technician probably became trapped because, “there’s a lot of pipes up there, it’s a tight space, and I think he just lost his balance.”

He added that this incident is “a first and hopefully... [a] last”.