Updated
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Two men were hospitalized after they were injured by a plate on a rock crushing unit at the new Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers site in Winlock this afternoon.
The piece of heavy equipment was just purchased by a private company at auction, according to Lewis County Fire District 5.
Firefighters were called around 1 p.m. to the 200 block of Ritchie Lane, north of Avery Road.
Fire Lt. Laura Hanson said in a news release the full extent of their injuries is unknown; the men were taken to Providence Centralia Hospital.
Hanson said only they were working on the unit when they were injured by a large metal plate which fell. She said it was 400 pounds of three-quarter-inch steel.
Members of Lewis County Fire Districts 15, 6 and Lewis County Medic One assisted with the call. District 6 Chief Tim Kinder said the piece of equipment was on a trailer and the pair were disassembling it.
One of the men fell about 15 feet from atop the rock crusher and the other man was struck by the plate, Kinder said.
The injured, whose names were not released, are both in their mid-50’s, according to Hanson.
They are employed by South Bay Excavating of Olympia, according to a spokesperson for Labor and Industries. L and I is investigating the incident, spokesperson Elaine Fischer said.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter