Man, dog almost squished in garbage truck

By Shannon Quesnel

A homeless man and a dog were almost crushed early this morning.

A recycling truck picked up a cardboard recycling dumpster at 1636 Main St. Inside the dumpster was a homeless man and his dog.

The driver started to compact the load when the homeless man banged on the truck's interior. The driver stopped what he was doing and called emergency services.

Penticton Fire and Rescue got the call at 6:26 a.m. Firefighters helped the two out of the truck with a ladder. Paramedics examined the man, found him very frightened and not seriously injured. An RCMP constable removed the dog and returned him to the man.

The homeless individual told police this was not the first time this had happened to him and agreed to find a safer place to sleep in the future. He then left the scene.

Deputy Fire Chief Dave Spalding said he has never heard of such a thing happening in this area.

“That would have been a first for me.”

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Quesnel at squesnel@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065.