The klaxon goes off, and you’re all ears: “Attention Ladder 5, respond to 5505 Route 25A for a report of persons trapped in an elevator.” Having responded to this building countless times for automatic alarms, you know exactly where all the components are and have mentally started the building size-up—three-story, fire-resistive, sprinkled building with a single-bank hydraulic elevator. En route to the scene, you call dispatch asking for additional information. The dispatcher reports the following: “There are three persons inside an elevator that has stopped between the second and third floors, one of the occupants is pregnant and getting very uncomfortable.” You respond, “10-4.”
Your firefighter on watch acknowledges as you and your crew make your way to the apparatus. Having responded to this building countless times for automatic alarms, you know exactly where all the components are and have mentally started the building size-up—three-story, fire-resistive, sprinkled building with a single-bank hydraulic elevator.
As you start your response, you call dispatch asking for additional information on the incident. The dispatcher responds with the following: “There are three persons inside an elevator that has stopped between the second and third floors, one of the occupants is pregnant and getting very uncomfortable.” “10-4” is your response.
Upon arrival, the firefighter in the jumpseat heads for the tools. You grab the elevator hoistway door keys and tell your chauffeur to let you know when he has gained entry to the elevator machinery room.
As you and your crew enter the building and arrive at the elevator, the first thing you do is activate Fire Service Mode Phase I, Manual Recall. Nothing. Of course, that would have been too easy. The firefighter with the tools assists you as you use the proper key to open the hoistway door to get a better look at the situation. You call up the shaft to make contact with the unfortunate passengers stuck in the car. You can tell by their response that they are getting a little amped up and need to exit soon. The elevator is occupied by a pregnant woman, her daughter and her mother.
Your team heads to the second floor. The chauffeur calls and lets you know he has gained entry. Your response is, “10-4, stand by.”
When you open the hoistway door on the second floor, you see that the elevator is stuck at a point between the second and third floor where you may be able to have the three people climb down and out on a ladder to the second floor or up and out to the floor above via a ladder (Figure 1). What would you do? Almost everyone has an elevator in their district. Assuming you do, could you solve this problem that has just presented itself to you?
Play by play
Here’s how I recommend handling the situation. First, assure the passengers in the elevator that you will have them out in a few moments and ask if they need any medical assistance. If so, summon an ambulance. Next, call the chauffeur and tell him to shut the power to the system, close the ball valve and stand by. Third, ask the passengers one more time how they are doing and let them know you will be lowering the elevator to the landing to remove them. Explain that they will feel the elevator moving, and the fire department has complete control of the system.
When you give the command, the chauffeur knows what to do; this is not his first rodeo. As he slowly opens the ball valve, allowing the hydraulic fluid to pass back in to the reservoir, the elevator starts its descent. When the elevator floor is level with your landing (remember, the hoistway door is open, so you can see this), tell the chauffeur to stop so he closes the ball valve. Depress the locking device on the elevator car door and slide the door open. You should be greeted by people who are very happy to exit the elevator. Piece of cake.
Now have the chauffeur leave the power off and lock the machinery room as he leaves. Have the other firefighter post an “Out of Service” sign on the hoistway doors at each landing (it’s only three stories), and notify dispatch of the following: The occupants have been released, the elevator is “out of service,” the elevator company and building management must be notified of the necessary repairs and, lastly, Ladder 5 is back in service.
Details and decisions
Let’s now run through some of these operations step-by-step and in a little more detail, and then we’ll review three options for removing the occupants.
In this scenario, we activated Fire Service Mode, which is required on all elevators (Figure 2). Your apparatus should have an elevator service key, a key to the Elevator Machinery Room and a set of hoistway door keys. Each member should be proficient in the use of these keys. The Fire Service Mode, when working properly, would have recalled the elevator to the lobby, opened the door and the problem would have been solved.
We opened the hoistway doors in the lobby. Use the elevator hoistway door key to open the hoistway door to look into the hoistway/shaft way to ascertain the elevator’s location and make contact with the occupants. Note: The hoistway door keys in Figure 3 are called drop keys. Drop keys are only one of many types of hoistway door keys used by elevator companies. A little recon and an open conversation with the company that services the elevators in your district can go a long way toward attaining the proper keys and equipment.
The chauffeur made entry to the machinery room. He may have access or may have to force the door by himself. All your members should be capable of performing this task by themselves if you do not have keys. The chauffeur then contacted the officer to see what the next move is. This is vital. If the chauffeur turns off the power too soon, Fire Service Mode will not work. If he shuts off the power too late, someone could be electrocuted or the elevator could move, leaving someone with a severed limb. Once the power to the elevator is shut down, the chauffeur closes the ball valve on the system (Figures 4 and 5). Once the ball valve is shut, he will then open the manual lowering valve or bleeder valve (Figures 6 and 7).
Now that the officer and firefighter have made it to the second floor and opened the hoistway doors, they are presented with the scenario pictured in Figure 1.
Option 1
Place a portable ladder against the shaft in the hallway so no one will slip into the shaft (Figure 8). A member goes to the floor above and opens the elevator doors by turning the wheel connected to the electric motor. This is the easier wheel to turn; it uses a fulcrum (Figure 9). Now place another portable ladder into the car and have a member ascend into the car to assist with the occupant exit.
Every person, occupant and member must be attached to a life rope while going into or out of the elevator in this scenario. Each occupant who is exiting is physically held onto by a member at all times. The member in the car will hold onto the occupant as they climb onto the ladder and will not release their grip until the member in the hallway has a firm grip on the same occupant. This member will not release his grip until assured that the occupant is on solid ground and can safely exit the area.
The member in the car will decide who goes first and will be the last person out of the elevator car.
When all occupants have been removed and the emergency has been mitigated, the elevator car door will be closed and checked that it is locked, and then the hoistway doors will be closed and checked that they are also locked. If any doubt exists as to the integrity of the doors, call the police department to secure the scene prior to going back in service.
Option 2
The next option is to remove the occupants via the top hatch to the floor above. All of the precautions for safety still need to be taken—life rope, secure the shaft and ladders, etc.—but now we are working on top of the elevator.
Once the top hatch is opened, a pole ladder (e.g., scissor ladder, attic ladder, folding ladder) will be inserted into the elevator car (Figure 10). The member entering the car ties off each occupant and passes them up to the person on top of the car, who in turn may have to pass them up to a member above in the hallway. This scenario may require more personnel.
Option 3
This is the option used in the example posed at the beginning of the article. It is the simplest, especially when dealing with a hydraulic elevator. The reason we can do this is as follows: The reservoir is where the hydraulic fluid is stored. When the elevator is called upon to rise, the fluid is pumped from the reservoir into the piston to raise the elevator to its requested position. Once in position, the pump shuts down. There is a check valve that is in the closed position while this is happening. When the passengers press the button to lower the elevator, the check valve opens and the fluid is returned to the reservoir, allowing the elevator to descend to its requested location. Once it arrives, the check valve closes and it is ready for the next ride.
In sum
Elevator emergencies like this are not too difficult, they just require a little practice. Every apparatus in your district should have the tools for your members to manipulate and free a passenger from a stuck or stalled elevator, and every member should have the capability to use these tools correctly.
Sidebar: Elevators Are Everywhere
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s gave rise to other movements, including the Disability Rights Movement. And later, a document was created called the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG). A history of the ADA and disability movement can be found here.
The specifics for ADA requirements in terms of vertical transportation can be found here; it is a long and detailed list. The technical provisions are intended for remodeling of existing conditions based on anthropometric, ergonomic and human performance data. Although ANSI A117.1 is a voluntary standard, it has been adopted as an enforceable code by many state and local agencies.
So basically any building that has more than one story (including the basement) and is open to the public will have an elevator—and that is why you probably have an elevator in your district.
Tony Tricarico
Captain Tony Tricarico has been a member of the fire service since 1977 and was hired by the FDNY in 1981. Tricarico has served in the South Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan. In 2002, he was assigned to the Special Operations Command, where he served as the captain of Squad 252 until his retirement in 2008.
Tricarico is a national- and New York State-certified fire instructor, and has instructed at the FDNY Technical Rescue School, Command School, Capitol Fire Training and other agencies, and was also a former deputy chief instructor at the Suffolk County Fire Academy. He instructs and lectures throughout the country on engine and truck operations, RIT/ firefighter survival, and special operations tactics. He has been the lead instructor in the Fire Emergency Training Network (FETN) and American Heat training videos on collapse, elevator operations and SCBA emergencies, to name a few. He continues to train with different agencies and is presently the technical operations advisor and northeast regional director for GelTech Solutions FireIce operations. He is a regular presenter at Firehouse Expo and FDIC, and has presented at Firehouse World and other major venues in the U.S and Europe.
Tricarico studied fire science and building construction at John Jay College in Manhattan.
He is an active member of the Mount Sinai Volunteer Fire Department on Long Island and a former chief of department. Tricarico has had many articles published in multiple fire-related periodicals, both in the U.S. and other countries.
