Lincoln, NY -- A Herkimer County man died Wednesday afternoon at the Madison County landfill in Lincoln, police said. Vincent R. Unczur, 30, of 1102 Center St., Frankfort, was killed around 1:19 p.m. when the box of the 10-wheel roll-off truck he was attempting to unload collapsed on him. Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley said Unczur was crushed by the...
Lincoln, NY -- A Herkimer County man died Wednesday afternoon at the Madison County landfill in Lincoln, police said.
Vincent R. Unczur, 30, of 1102 Center St., Frankfort, was killed around 1:19 p.m. when the box of the 10-wheel roll-off truck he was attempting to unload collapsed on him.
Madison County Sheriff Allen Riley said Unczur was crushed by the truck’s box, which had become stuck in the air.
“He went to fix it and it came down on him,” Riley said. “It’s a very sad situation.”
Another commercial hauler who was near Unczur tried to help him and a landfill employee called 911 for help, the sheriff’s office said in a release. Workers used a backhoe bucket to raise the box and free Unczur.
Unczur was employed by Feher Rubbish Removal of Utica. Larry Feher, owner of Syracuse-headquartered Feher Rubbish Removal, said he was “very, very sorrowful about what happened.”
Feher said he wasn’t aware of anyone being killed while working for the company, which was founded by his father more than 50 years ago.
Feher said he couldn’t comment on how the accident occurred because he didn’t know. He was waiting for governemnt investigators to report.
Feher has more than 100 trucks running daily, he said, and more than 150 employees in its four divisions, Syracuse, Watertown, Geneva and Utica.
According to Post-Standard archives, in 2007 a Feher employee was run over by a company truck while collecting trash in Pompey. In 2009, a 64-year-old man walking his dog was trapped beneath the wheels of a Feher truck.
The sheriff’s office is continuing to investigate the death. Also involved in the investigation are the Madison County Safety Office, the state police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Unit and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Staff Writer Alaina Potrikus contributed to this report.
Contact Charles McChesney at cmcchesney@syracuse.com.