Updated

Los Angeles firefighters rescued a delivery truck driver from a deep and narrow hole at a construction site Thursday.

The 30-year-old man fell up to 50 feet down the 24-inch-diameter hole and landed feet-first on compacted soil, according to Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey.

Urban search and rescue specialists responded along with neighborhood firefighters when the accident was reported around 8:30 a.m. at the residential construction site in the Beverly Crest area of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Firefighters pumped fresh air into the hole and lowered a radio to the man, who remained conscious and was able to put on a harness attached to a rope. Firefighters used a fire truck's ladder like the boom of a crane to hoist the man up.

The man suffered head and face lacerations and was taken to a hospital for examination.

Humphrey said the driver had brought steel rebar to the construction site when he apparently stepped on plywood covering several deep holes.

State occupational safety authorities will investigate.