2 Rescued From Water Neck-High in Elevator - Polidicks

[url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/nyregion/two-saved-from-drowning-in-stuck-elevator-on-si.html?_r=1]NY Times[/url] [release]In his 34 years with the New York Fire Department, Capt. James Melvin has seen his share of stuck elevators. But he had never witnessed anything quite like what happened Sunday on Staten Island. Two construction workers were stuck in an elevator that was filling with water, Captain Melvin explained, with a hint of amazement in his voice. By the time firefighters arrived, the water level had risen as high as the two trapped men’s necks. “We’ve had plenty of elevator emergencies, but never one that’s down sinking in water,” said Captain Melvin, of Ladder Company 86 on Richmond Avenue. As for the two men, he added, “They were happy to see us.” The men were working in the former Staten Island Hotel in Graniteville, which is being renovated into an assisted-living residence for older people. About 9 a.m., the two workers were riding in the elevator and discovered that the door did not open. The men, identified as Edward Tyler and Windell Admaker, began to hit the buttons for various floors in the hope that the doors on one of them would work. “They figured they’d try the basement level,” Captain Melvin said. On another day, that would probably have been fine, but the rainfall on Sunday had led to severe flooding in the basement. And when the elevator neared the basement level, “it hit water and started sinking slowly, until it sank to the bottom of the shaft,” Captain Melvin said. The two men were alone in the building, he added. There was no one inside to hear their shouts, and a security guard outside was unaware of the disaster unfolding inside, Captain Melvin said. With a cellphone the men reached the Fire Department. While neither knew the precise address of the building, they said it was near the intersection of Richmond Avenue and Christopher Lane. When firefighters finally found them, about an hour after their initial call, the two men were standing atop the plastic cart they had been using to transport supplies between floors. Even with the cart’s added height, the water was up to their necks, and about three feet from the elevator’s ceiling, Captain Melvin said. The water level “was going up, and then coming down, and going up a little more,” Captain Melvin said. The rescue involved inserting a narrow ladder into the elevator from above, through the emergency hatch, Captain Melvin said. Mr. Tyler and Mr. Admaker were not hurt and went back to the firehouse. “We let them clean up in our facilities because we assumed that the water might have been sewer water,” Captain Melvin said.[/release] Rain rain go away

Final Destination

Yet the cellphone didn't get wet?

oh god imagine if they didn't have a cellphone

[QUOTE=zzaacckk;31739624]Yet the cellphone didn't get wet?[/QUOTE] I imagine one of the used his arm to hold the cellphone above the water.

that sucks i've already seen 3 Manhattan basements flooding water bugs everywhere

[QUOTE=zzaacckk;31739624]Yet the cellphone didn't get wet?[/QUOTE] They probably called before the water reached their necks, ya know? More likely when the water initially started coming into the elevator. :downs:

I hope that when they rescued them at least one firefighter asked "Going drown?"

[QUOTE=zzaacckk;31739624]Yet the cellphone didn't get wet?[/QUOTE] Probably an old-school Nokia 3310. Those things can survive ANYTHING.

If I was them I would have thought grabbing a huge breath of air before opening the emergency hatch, waiting for the water to flood the elevator and swimming to the top of it. I'm just glad they got out alright.

[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;31740919]If I was them I would have thought grabbing a huge breath of air before opening the emergency hatch, waiting for the water to flood the elevator and swimming to the top of it. I'm just glad they got out alright.[/QUOTE] Aren't the hatches usually locked from the outside?

Motherfucker, just when my fears couldn't be any worse, but drowning while being stuck in an elevator, fuck that

Drowning while being stuck in a small room is one of my fears. Would be a terrifying experience.

That scene from Saw 5 (I believe) where that detective guy is trapped with his head in a glass jar while water is filling came to my mind.

I've been stuck in an elevator before, we only got out because of a trick someone learnt from watching all the die hards :v:

Wait, I thought all elevators had a hatch in the roof just in case something like this would happen they would be able to escape via the hatch.

That must have been very scary.

Man I'm uncomfortable enough in elevators on a good day, being part of that shit would ruin my year.

[QUOTE=sparky28000;31741399]Wait, I thought all elevators had a hatch in the roof just in case something like this would happen they would be able to escape via the hatch.[/QUOTE] I'd imagine so, especially after watching Toy Story 2 and playing Left 4 Dead.

If I was in there, the water would have a brown brick floating in it.

I don't get why they didn't just haul themselves up the escape hatch.

[QUOTE=tinhead50;31743174]I don't get why they didn't just haul themselves up the escape hatch.[/QUOTE] In a lot of elevators, the escape hatches aren't even marked and are usually hidden by light fixtures and other stupid shit that should not be in the way.

Big trouble in Little China is the first thing I thought.

[QUOTE=FunnyBunny;31740919]If I was them I would have thought grabbing a huge breath of air before opening the emergency hatch, waiting for the water to flood the elevator and swimming to the top of it. I'm just glad they got out alright.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Master Kief-117;31748295]In a lot of elevators, the escape hatches aren't even marked and are usually hidden by light fixtures and other stupid shit that should not be in the way.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=tinhead50;31743174]I don't get why they didn't just haul themselves up the escape hatch.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=sparky28000;31741399]Wait, I thought all elevators had a hatch in the roof just in case something like this would happen they would be able to escape via the hatch.[/QUOTE] "The escape hatch is always locked. By law, it’s bolted shut, from the outside. It’s there so that emergency personnel can get in, not so passengers can get out." [URL]http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/04/21/080421fa_fact_paumgarten?currentPage=all[/URL]

Well that's kind of stupid. They should rename it to rescue hatch then, instead of escape hatch.

[QUOTE=Stormcharger;31741239]I've been stuck in an elevator before, we only got out because of a trick someone learnt from watching all the die hards :v:[/QUOTE] And this trick was?