A 35-year-old man from Cleveland died after falling into the bottom of a railroad tanker car at Emerald Transformer in Twinsburg Township Friday morning, according to the Twinsburg Fire Department and Summit County Sheriff Kandy Fatheree.
At approximately 9:40 a.m., the fire department responded to a business in the 1600 block of Highland Road for a report of someone who "fell into a tank," the department said.
Fatheree said the man entered a tank to conduct an air quality test while two other men waited outside. The two men noticed the 35-year-old was unresponsive and began to assist him.
Firefighters determined the person in question was lying unresponsive inside the railroad tanker car, according to the department.
Authorities said the man was a contractor hired to clean and test rail tanker cars.
After the fire department spoke with company representatives and monitored the surrounding areas, the department said it was determined that the employee entered the railcar with an oxygen-deficient atmosphere and succumbed to the environment as a result.
The sheriff said the 35-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities said no other employees or firefighters were injured, and the incident is still under investigation.
