Woman working with husband dies in sewer trench collapse

The Associated Press

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Tamara Kresse, 41, of Spanaway, mother of a teenage daughter, died at the scene Thursday afternoon despite the desperate efforts of her husband Tom and others in the work crew to dig her free.

Three city fire engines, three trucks, two medical units and a technical rescue unit with a total of 33 firefighters arrived less than 15 minutes, and it took about 2 1/2 hours to free her body, spokesman Keith O'Donnal said.

The trench was 8 to 10 feet deep and 3 to 4 feet wide, O'Donnal said.

"It was a freak accident," said Nancy Rice, the husband's sister, who came to the scene to console him. "She was just a fantastic person."

Witnesses said the Kresses and at least one other workers were using a John Deere excavator, a type of crane with a hydraulic arm and scoop bucket, to dig a trench for a sewer line in east Tacoma.

As Kresse was walking along the edge, a wall collapsed, she fell into the trench and was quickly trapped by falling gobs of mud and earth.

Kresse and her husband have been married about 15 years, Rice said.

She said Kresse, who ran for the state House in 2000 but lost in the Democratic primary, became more active in the family's excavation business in recent years because of her husband's health problems, including complications from diabetes.

"All she could say is, 'What am I going to do if I lose him,'" Rice said. "All I can think about now is how ironic it is that he's lost her."

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