Firefighters continue recovery efforts days after drill rig collapse

Phoenix Fire Capt. Larry Subervi says this hole is exactly like the one that was being drilled on Monday when a giant drill rig collapsed.

"The holes you see here are the holes they are digging where the rebar comes out, those are 30-feet deep," he said. "The tracks of the rig kind of straddle the hole each side. It drills straight down, the entire rig backs up and goes to the next one."

According to the captain, the Earth around the hold, which is part of the construction for the Sky Harbor Sky Train, gave way, creating an opening at least three times the size, burying the rig operator 30 feet deep under the dirt.

The process to recover the victim is slow and methodical.

"When you're in a city, all the dirt has been dug up before, we consider it all non-stable, non-compacted dirt, so with that we have measurements and charts that we have that tell us what the slope should be to keep us in that safe in that process," Capt. Subervi said.

Firefighters have been working in shifts since Monday, with as many as 120 on the scene. Along with construction workers, they dug 18 feet at the start of the day.

On Wednesday, Capt. Subervi said over 50 tons of dirt have been removed, and the process is slow due to a number of reasons, including an unstable ground and problems associated with a body recovery effort, where large pieces of machinery can't just start digging into the hole and possibly compromise the body.