Firefighters and construction technicians finally freed a man whose hand has become caught in an excavator in Bellevue on Thursday afternoon. Crews were working at a gas station in the 13900 block of NE 20th Street when the incident happened around 3:20 p.m., according to Lt. Camari Olson with Bellevue Fire. The man in his 20's had placed his hand on the excavator where the bucket attaches to the arm. Somehow the hydraulics started, and the workers got his fingers pinched. Technicians from the excavator company were called to the scene to lend expertise. Crews had to use a special torch and other tools to cut the equipment away from the man's hand. It took nearly three hours to free the man's fingers.