Last modified: Saturday, September 15, 2007 12:55 AM EDT Norton Deputy Fire Chief Paul Schleicher walks through the trash-strewn front yard of 4 Olympia St., Norton, Friday afternoon. Norton firefighters performed a well-being check on the occupant of the house and found him beneath debris inside of his house. The 90-year-old resident was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro. (Staff photo by MIKE GEORGE) Pinned under 'junk' BY SUSAN LaHOUD SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORTON - Rescuers Friday had to dig a 90-year-old man out of a pile of debris that had fallen on him, trapping him for two to three days, in a house so full of rubbish it took firefighters about 15 minutes to find him. Only Michael Halko's head was visible when firefighters did finally locate him in his home at 4 Olympia St, according to Fire Chief Richard Gomes. After he was found, it took rescuers another 45 minutes to pass Halko out in a 13-person chain because there was no discernible path in the house. Gomes described Halko as a "common figure," frequently seen biking around town.Police and firefighters had checked on the home after family members expressed concern for Halko's safety. Halko was dehydrated and possibly bruised, but did not appear to have suffered serious injury, Gomes said. Halko was taken to Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro. A person in the emergency room Friday evening said that the hospital does not release information on a patient's condition. Gomes said Halko's single-family home near the corner of Olympia Street and Route 123, next to Norton Crossing and which is largely obscured by trees and bushes, was filled "wall-to-wall, floor almost to ceiling with debris." There was anything from electronics to newspapers and magazines. Gomes said he would not be surprised if the stacks did not represent decades of collecting by Halko. Under a law new this year, rescue personnel must report "self- neglect," Gomes said. "This is the worse case of self-neglect I've ever seen and I've been on the job for 36 years," he said. He said Halko may have been trapped under the debris for a two to three of days. Rescue personnel responded to the home Friday afternoon after a call from Halko's family seeking a well-being check, according to police. A man who said he from the Attleboros and was later identified as Halko's son, Leonard, was at the house, waiting for help to secure the outside doors and windows about 5:30 p.m. He described his father as reclusive. "He got himself stuck in his collection of junk," he said. The younger Halko said the family had feared that his father, who has had triple bypass heart surgery, had suffered a heart attack after it was found that he hadn't collected his mail from the box in his yard for "several days." Halko said his father doesn't drive and rides his bicycle everywhere. He also chops wood. "He's probably healthier than I am." The younger Halko said he had not talked to his father since the incident, that they were going to visit him after getting the house secured as required by the town. He praised police and fire personnel for their response to the situation. He said his father has been asked in the past to take care of the clutter, "but he shuffled it around, more than picked it up." He attributed his father's habit of accumulating "junk" to having gone through the Depression. A small portion of the yard which could be viewed from Olympia Street revealed piles of items. One of the many was topped by an aged yellow-and-white-striped patio umbrella. There was a vehicle hub cap resting aside a pile covered by a tarp. Others were indistinguishable heaps of material. There was also a clump of scraggly, plastic-potted flowers near the street. "The inside was worse than the outside," said Gomes, who responded to the scene and called a special hazards unit as well as an engine from Mansfield for help in case the building collapsed. The units ended up largely acting as manpower to help bring the older Halko out of the house, he said. Gomes said the situation, tactically, was treated similar to that of a collapsed structure because of the piles and piles of debris which firefighters were forced to walk on and around to get to Halko, extricate him from, and balance on to get the man outside the house to the ambulance. "It's the first time we've handled it like a structural collapse in a home," he said. "We've seen some homes in poor condition, but this was the worst." Gomes said both the building and the yard were condemned by the town's inspectors and no one will be able to live on the property until a plan for cleanup is submitted and approved. The structural integrity of the building will also have to be checked. It was cordoned off by emergency tape Friday. Gomes said that he contacted the council on aging as well, so that regional services might be tapped to ensure Halko has a place to go following his release from the hospital and to receive follow-up services. A neighbor, Cindy DelSanto, who has lived two houses down from Halko's for the past 10 years, said she had not known the man's name, but was familiar with him because he collects bottles and cans from neighbors. "He's a nice guy, very friendly," she said. DelSanto said that much of the debris in the yard is hidden behind the bushes and that her family has never complained about the situation.