Worker injured at former Waltham school site

A construction worker was flown to a Peoria medical center for injuries sustained Friday during the ongoing demolition of Waltham North School. The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Utica Fire Department was dispatched at 11:32 a.m. Friday to the closed school, 946 N. 33rd Road in Waltham Township, after receiving a report of a man, 56, hit with an excavator and knocked into a hole.

Lt. Jody Henry said upon arrival first-responders found the man in a hole about 18 feet deep. Mutual aid was requested from Wallace and Peru fire departments and MABAS 25 Technical Rescue Team. At 12:41 p.m., the worker was pulled from hole and taken by ground transport to Illinois Valley Regional Airport, Peru, where a LifeFlight helicopter was to transfer him to OSF St. Francis Medical Center, Peoria.

The man was in serious condition, Utica firefighters said.