For the second time in a week, someone has been rescue after getting trapped in an abandoned missile silo that’s located near the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds.

According to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, patrolling deputies spotted two vehicles parked near the gate of a restricted property just after midnight on July 14. This prompted further investigation, which led to the deputies hearing voices coming from an underground shaft. A 19-year-old male and a 28-year-old woman were soon found about 60 feet down inside of the shaft.

While the man was able to climb out of the shaft via a rope ladder, the woman was not, prompting the need for Sable Altura Fire Rescue to assist. This rescue team constructed a complex rope system for a vertical rescue, getting the woman out of the shaft by 1:45 a.m.

Neither person who had entered the shaft was injured, though both did receive a summons for second-degree criminal trespassing. This follows a rescue that took place at the same missile silo on July 8, during which an 18-year-old woman entered the silo with two teens before being unable to get back out.

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office again cautioned the public against entering restricted properties and confined underground spaces as hidden hazards, unstable conditions, toxic gases, and deep vertical shafts may exist. These hazards can “quickly turn exploration into a life-threatening emergency,” said the sheriff’s office.

Believe it or not, there are actually many nuclear missile silos in Colorado – some of which are abandoned and some of which aren’t. Members of the general public shouldn’t be entering any of them. Read more about Colorado’s role as part of the country’s ‘nuclear sponge’ here.

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