Woman Falls 10 Stories Inside Bergen County Trash Chute

HACKENSACK, NJ — Firefighters in Hackensack rescued a woman on Sunday who fell at least 10 stories in an apartment building trash chute, officials said.

The Hackensack Fire Department said they raced to the building around 1 a.m. on Sunday after getting a 911 call saying a woman had entered the 14th floor trash chute of 150 Main St.

Fire officials sent out a call for a "technical rescue, bringing in additional resources to the scene," the department wrote in a social media post.

First responders had trouble finding the woman, then discovered her in the area of the third or fourth floor, officials said. But she was stuck in the chute with backed-up trash.

"Efforts began to extricate the party by utilizing saws to remove panels from the trash chute discharge, while other crews prepared for a possible rope operation or wall breach," officials said.

Firefighters continued removing the trash until they were able to pull the woman out feet-first, around 28 minutes after the first call, they said.

She was placed into the care of an Hackensack University Medical Center ambulance crew, firefighters said.

One firefighter was taken to the hospital for an arm injury.

All firefighters who were involved had to be decontaminated, along with their equipment, the department said.

Patch has reached out to officials for more information, and will update this story when more details are released.