UTAH COUNTY, Utah -
Rescue crews have been working over a day trying to free a man stuck in the Nutty Putty Cave near Utah Lake. As of 5:30 p.m. crews moved the man, 26-year-old John Jones of Stansbury Park, about 13 feet from the original upside down position in which he was stuck and were able to get water down to him. But several hours later, Jones slipped down due to equipment failure and fell back near the position he started in. Sgt. Tom Hodgson of the Utah County Sheriff's Office said fatigue has affected Jones and his rescuers as well.
Jones has been trapped in an area of the cave called "Bob's Push," just past the feature known as the "birth canal" since about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday night. Experts and tight space rescue are using air compressed power tools to chip away at the rock surrounding the man.
Jones is slowly moving out of the cave millimeter by millimeter as crews are focusing on safely pulling him out. Rescuers could only see Jones' feet at the start of the rescue.
"The problem was that we couldn't get water down to him the way that he was," said Josh Jones, the man's brother. "I could only see his feet dangling. I thought that the rock ate him or something. He was stuck in there pretty good."
Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Department said Jones is in a tightly confined space up to 18 inches wide and about 8 to 10 inches high.
Cannon said the space is warm, but it is uncomfortable.
"It's a fairly steady temperature of about 60 degrees," said Cannon. "But anytime you are in a confined space like that on a hard surface, it is going to be very uncomfortable at best."
Jones is stuck about 125 feet below the ground and about 600 to 700 feet into the cave.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office was notified by the group Jones was with at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday night and responders were on the scene in an hour. He was with a group of about 10 other people.
A helicopter is on standby, but crews say it may be hours before they are able to reach the man.
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FOX 13's Arikka Von has the latest.
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Jones has been trapped in an area of the cave called "Bob's Push," just past the feature known as the "birth canal" since about 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday night. Experts and tight space rescue are using air compressed power tools to chip away at the rock surrounding the man.
Jones is slowly moving out of the cave millimeter by millimeter as crews are focusing on safely pulling him out. Rescuers could only see Jones' feet at the start of the rescue.
"The problem was that we couldn't get water down to him the way that he was," said Josh Jones, the man's brother. "I could only see his feet dangling. I thought that the rock ate him or something. He was stuck in there pretty good."
Sgt. Spencer Cannon of the Utah County Sheriff's Department said Jones is in a tightly confined space up to 18 inches wide and about 8 to 10 inches high.
Cannon said the space is warm, but it is uncomfortable.
"It's a fairly steady temperature of about 60 degrees," said Cannon. "But anytime you are in a confined space like that on a hard surface, it is going to be very uncomfortable at best."
Jones is stuck about 125 feet below the ground and about 600 to 700 feet into the cave.
The Utah County Sheriff's Office was notified by the group Jones was with at about 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday night and responders were on the scene in an hour. He was with a group of about 10 other people.
A helicopter is on standby, but crews say it may be hours before they are able to reach the man.
Stay with FOX 13 News and fox13now.com for the latest developments on this story.
FOX 13's Arikka Von has the latest.
SEND US YOUR NEWS, WEATHER AND SPORTS PICTURES! www.fox13now.com/pics
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! @fox13now
