Firefighters rescue elderly stuck in elevator

Firefighters rushed to the rescue Tuesday after receiving a call that two residents of the Havre Eagles Manor Retirement Community were stuck in an elevator.

Firefighters pried open the doors to an elevator that was stuck between the first and second floors of the manor, Havre Fire Department Assistant Chief Kelly Jones said this morning.

After forcing open, firefighters dropped a ladder and escorted an elderly man and woman out. An ambulance and fire truck were standing by, but the residents were unharmed and did not need any medical attention, Jones said.

The Havre Fire Department got the call Tuesday at 4:56 p.m. and it didn’t take long before firefighters were on the scene. Jones said the man and woman didn’t spend a lot of time in the elevator because the call for help was made quickly.

Eagles Manor managers called to have the elevator repaired, Jones said.

“Elevators are finicky and sometimes we have to get a door unstuck,” Jones said.

However, Jones added, rescuing people out of defective elevators is not commonplace for Havre firefighters. There aren’t that many elevators in Havre, he said.

The elevator call was the second call of the day firefighters had responded to Tuesday at Eagles Manor. A sprinkler pipe had burst, prompting managers to call the fire department at 8:50 a.m. The water had to be shut down, Jones said.