3-year-old dies after falling into septic tank in Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — Neighbors are in shock after the sudden death of a 3-year-old boy who was playing in Lakewood early Sunday afternoon.

“There’s a swing back there that they were playing in,” said a neighbor.

Off camera, a family member told KIRO 7 the little boy was with two young brothers and a young neighbor girl, playing together in the backyards of a row of homes.

The boys were visiting their grandmother who was home at the time.

The boys were in the yard next to their grandmother’s, when at some point, the 3-year-old lifted the lid on a septic tank and fell in.

His brother alerted their grandmother who called 9-1-1 just before 2:30 p.m.

Firefighters arrived and got the boy out of the septic tank, but he died at the scene.

“They were all gathered around – a couple of them just openly crying,” said Judith Frost, a neighbor.

Another neighbor says she saw the boy’s devastated mother.

“Saw one of the lady firefighters give her the longest hug. It just breaks your heart because this never should have happened,” said neighbor Darlene Fudge.

Pierce County investigators say the tank lid is similar in size to a manhole cover and that the tank is around 7-foot-deep and around 4-foot-long.

In each yard, there’s a septic tank.

The boy’s family and neighbors believe there was negligence because that tank was not bolted down.

“Apparently the septic tank company had come out and serviced our neighbor’s septic tank back in November and they didn’t they didn’t seal it, they didn’t secure it,” said a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous.

During our story, we saw a company servicing one of the tanks – though it’s unclear whether that company had anything to do with the tank not being secured at the time of the accident.

The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.

Pierce County investigators say the boy’s family is not facing any criminal charges.

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