A Westmont Public Works employee was killed Thursday while repairing a broken water main.
A Westmont Public Works employee was killed while repairing a water main break late Thursday morning, according to village officials.
Officials said first responders were contacted at approximately 11:45 a.m., alerting of an employee who was trapped in an underground water main vault at the intersection of 60th Street and Deming Place.
The water main vault was submerged in water due to a burst water main at the intersection.
Officials said that village employee Matthew Heiden was recovered from the water main vault at approximately 12:40 p.m. and was unresponsive upon rescue.
CPR and other life-saving measures were immediately administered as Heiden was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 1:07 p.m. shortly after arrival to the hospital.
Sue Jay, who lives nearby, said she was working from home and looked out her window to see the terror that unfolded during a water main break repair on her corner.
"Based on what they were doing, the sense of urgency, and the equipment that was there, it wasn’t like they were trying to get a tree trunk out," she stated. "You could tell it was much more than that."
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City officials said that Heiden was initially hired as a seasonal employee in 2019 and 2021 before being hired as a part-time water maintenance worker in September 2021. He had recently been moved to a full-time position.
Heiden graduated from Westmont High School in 2020, where the principal said he was a "Matthew was a humble, hard working and always good young man who was admired by many.”
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The village of Westmont issued a boil order Thursday for the coming three days in the following areas:
- South Wilmette - from 59th Street to 60th Street as well as the 800 block
- 60th Street - from Wilmette to Cass Avenue
- Deming Place
"We ask for everyone’s patience during this inconvenience," the village said. "Additional maintenance crews have been assigned to this repair so that it can be completed as quickly as possible."
Neighbors, who had been warned about the work on the water main and water shut off previously, are less worried about their continued water outage and more about the family who lost so much.
"Oh you know, it breaks your heart, poor guy is just working, and losing life that’s bad, that's bad," said neighbor Mark Miani.
