Elevators in Ball State University's LaFollette Complex are working again after a group of students and visitors were trapped in an elevator for about two hours Monday night, Alan Richards, Muncie Fire Department chief, said.
There were no serious injuries, although one woman was transported to the hospital with a minor case of dehydration because of the heat, he said.
MFD received a call at 8:48 p.m. Monday that seven people were trapped in the elevator in Brayton and Clevenger halls, Richards said.
The elevator stopped working somewhere near the sixth floor because of an overheated motor that malfunctioned, he said.
Richards said firefighters dropped a ladder from a hatch at the top of the elevator shaft and unbolted the hatch on the elevator's roof to supply the victims with cool air and water.
"Once you gain access, it usually calms [the victims] down quite a bit," Richards said. "The guys from the fire department did a super job of calming them down and making it down to the elevator."
Sophomore Caleb Mercer, who was working at the Brayton and Clevenger front desk during the emergency, said University Police contacted him at about 8 p.m. to let him know that people were trapped in the elevator.
Mercer said he called Sarah Kwak, assistant hall director of Brayton and Clevenger halls, who notified the MFD and the maintenance company.
Although he couldn't see the elevators from the front desk, Mercer said he heard the sirens and saw the firefighters enter the building.
"I wasn't too worried because I knew that it would eventually get taken care of," he said. "It's an emergency situation so naturally people are going to panic, but it's going to get taken care of as quickly as possible."
Alan Hargrave, Housing and Residence Life director, said confusion probably caused the slow rescue time because Ball State switched elevator maintenance contracts on Saturday.
According to their Web site, Schindler Elevator Corp. is the North American entity of the world's second-largest elevator company.
"If the university has someone stuck in an elevator, the new contract requires a 45-minute response time," Hargrave said.
The Schindler response team was late because they had to travel to Muncie from Indianapolis, Richards said.
Richards said he did not know when the last elevator rescue at Ball State was.
"As far as elevator rescues, we do probably five or six a year throughout the city," Richards said. "They're not real common."
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