JOHNSON COUNTY — Rescue teams freed a man who fell into the narrow shaft of a gas well and was trapped about 40 feet below the surface Tuesday morning.

Dozens of co-workers aided by emergency workers from around the area pulled the unidentified man to the surface just before 11 a.m. He had been underground for nearly three hours.

During the long rescue effort, fresh air was pumped to the worker, who was said to be injured but alive.

A team of more workers manned a rope attached to a tripod over the hole that was used to lift the trapped worker.

"Obviously, this is a confined space rescue," said Perry Bynum, a rescue expert from Haltom City. "Any time we have one of these, our biggest issue is trying to get an idea of the patient's condition. Once we do that, we can develop an action plan on how to rescue that person."

The gas well site is between Cresson and Godley on Highway 171 in far western Johnson County, about 25 miles south of Fort Worth.

Emergency workers from Burleson and Haltom City joined Cresson and Godley firefighters in the rescue efforts.

An ambulance moved the rescued worker to a nearby CareFlite helicopter for transfer to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth.