Woman Plummets Headfirst in Outhouse Trying to Retrieve Phone | PEOPLE.com

2022-06-04 03:19:42 By : Ms. Justin Chan

A woman visiting Olympic National Forest fell into a public outhouse on Tuesday while trying to fish out her lost cell phone, according to officials.

Brinnon Fire Department Chief Tim Manly said firefighters went to the top of Mount Walker in Olympic National Forest to respond to a report of a woman in her 40s plummeting headfirst into a vault toilet.

According to Manly, the woman tried to take the toilet apart to get her phone back, disassembling the seat and housing. Things took a turn for the worse when she attempted to lower herself into the vault with dog leashes supporting her. 

"Eventually, she took the leashes to help support herself, which failed, and she slid into and fell into the vault head first," Manly wrote in a social media post. "After 15-20 minutes of attempting to get out, she used her phone to call 911."

Brinnon Fire Department Rescue 41 and Quilcene F&R Aid 21 responded to the mountain top. First responders made a makeshift cribbing platform by passing them down to the woman to stand on, Manly said. 

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Once the platform was tall enough for her to stand on, the crew pulled her from the vault, hosed her down and gave her a protective suit, per Manly.

She "was strongly encouraged to seek medical attention after being exposed to human waste, but she only wanted to leave," Manly wrote. "She thanked the responders and continued her journey back to California."

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He added that she "was extremely fortunate not to be overcome by toxic gases or sustain injury."

"This was pretty unique," Manly told the Kitsap Sun. "I've been doing this for 40 years and that was a first."