A man in his 50s was unharmed Friday after falling about 15 feet into a cesspool in Kaneohe that was to be dismantled, a Fire Department spokesman said.

The man was working for a company that was going to pump out sludge from the pit before it was filled in when the cesspool cap collapsed while the man was standing on top, said Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig.

“He fell in too, but he fell on top of the rocks,” Seelig said. The man’s leg was buried up to his hip by rubble from the concrete cap and couldn’t get out on his own. A firefighter went down with a hand shovel and freed the man before firefighters placed him into a harness and lifted him out.

Firefighters were dispatched to Hulupala Place about 2:30 p.m. and got the man out by 3:50 p.m., Seelig said. The man was checked by paramedics and didn’t have any injuries.