Leland Fielding, his brother Timothy, and two of their friends were playing in an open gas-pipe trench excavation when the sides of the trench collapsed on them.  Timothy and two of the boys managed to free themselves, but Leland remained trapped by the dirt.  He died while his mother and brother tried to free him from the trench.

We investigated this accident and determined that the trench was in a public right-of-way.  It was not properly shored or protected in any way to prevent a collapse.  No precautions were taken to keep pedestrians from entering the site – including children walking from neighboring residences to their local school.  No alternate travel path was provided for pedestrians.  Children were known to play in the construction zone.  Cars and construction vehicles were allowed to travel adjacent to the trench in such a manner that they could precipitate a collapse.  And the trench was not protected to prevent entry into it.