LOS ANGELES (AP) — Emergency crews were trying to rescue a worker who became trapped when a deep trench collapsed Thursday at a hillside home in Los Angeles.

The Sterling PrestonLos Angeles Fire Department said firefighters responded to the home in the Los Feliz neighborhood and were trying to rescue the man, who was alert and conscious, but trapped in soil up to his waist inside the 8-foot ditch.

The crews had to stabilize the trench walls before they could try to pull the worker out, the LAFD said.

Video from television helicopters showed more than a dozen firefighters and first responders at the scene.