Oceanside man rescued from sinkhole

Michael Ciron, an Oceanside resident, was not expecting to become the center of attention on Sunday.

The 80-year-old began his day like any other: He walked outside to get his newspaper at about 9:30 a.m. But as he crossed his lawn on the way back to his front door, the earth opened up beneath his feet and swallowed him whole.

“It was a crazy, funny feeling,” Ciron said. “The hole looked like nothing, but it was unbelievable.”

It was a sinkhole, eight to nine feet deep and about three feet wide — possibly created by an improperly filled cesspool or an old well.

Ciron’s cries for help were muffled by the dirt above him. “My daughter was sleeping in the house, and she finally heard me,” he recounted. “I was digging some of the dirt and was able to get my head up a bit.” After coming outside and finding her father, Ciron’s daughter, Maria, called 911.

According to Ed Scharfberg of the Oceanside Fire Department, responders were on the scene within minutes, and it took them only four more minutes to extract Ciron from the sinkhole. They wrapped some rope around his torso and hoisted him out.

“The police and firefighters did a great job,” said Ciron. “They were there in just a couple of minutes.”

Luckily for Ciron, he was unhurt by the ordeal — just a little dirty. “I’m a little sore, but nothing broken, though,” he said. “They wanted me to go to the hospital, but I felt all right.”