A teen was rescued Wednesday afternoon after falling approximately 40 feet into an abandoned missile silo in Arapahoe County, officials reported. South Metro Fire Rescue responded to a call at about 3:45 p.m., off Imboden Road, south of Watkins, where the accident took place. According to 9News, the teen was one of three individuals, including another teen and an adult, on the missile silo when the incident occurred.
The fallen individual landed in the water in the tunnel, however, the water was not deep enough to cover his head. "The teen fell into water, but it wasn't so deep that it was over his head," South Metro Fire Rescue stated, per 9News. Practical concerns dictate a strict adherence to safety protocols when exploring such sites, clearly not upheld in this instance, leading to the reported accident.
As reported by The Denver Gazette, the teen sustained injuries from the fall and was hospitalized, though they were described as non-life-threatening. Colorado is home to numerous former nuclear missile silos, relics of the Cold War era, now decommissioned and mostly situated in the Eastern Plains region.
Encounters with these abandoned structures are not uncommon. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has identified six former Titan I missile complexes in the state. This incident is reminiscent of a separate episode earlier in the year when two 18-year-olds were cited with trespassing after entering an abandoned missile silo near Deer Trail, as detailed by Denver7. One of them sustained injuries, falling through a shaft and landing amidst metal debris, concrete, and stagnant water. These events cast a glaring light on the dangers of such silos, lying in wait, open yet obscured by their historical insignificance.
