A workman was severely burned after he fell into a hole filled with near-boiling water this morning at Simpson College in Indianola. College spokesman John Fuller says the worker was a private contractor who had been hired to fix a problem with the campus’ steam heat system.
Fuller says: "Our buildings are heated through a series of steam pipes that are underground and when they need repair, we have to dig those out with a backhoe. The person that was doing that slipped inside the hole and suffered some burns." The worker’s name was not released. Sources say the man suffered second-degree burns from the knees down, but Fuller was not aware of the extent of the man’s injuries.
"The water is really hot because it goes through the pipes to heat the buildings," Fuller says, "I can’t tell you if it was boiling or not but it was hot water." The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. His condition has not been released.