There was a close call Thursday at the Blaine County Courthouse. Luckily, there were plenty of heroes on hand to answer that call.
According to Watonga Fire Chief Robert Daugherty, his department was dispatched to the courthouse for a subject trapped in the elevator and a smell of smoke.
The bottom door to the elevator opened as designed, but firefighters found no smell, no smoke and no heat. They went up a level to the secondfloor doors, which refused to open and had to be pried apart. The elevator car was trapped between floors, but the access at the second floor was not wide enough to allow emergency personnel to reach the trapped individual. Up a third flight of stairs, the firefighters again pried open doors, and this time were able to reach the stuck el evator car and the subject inside. EMS came in at that point and treated the patient.
The fire department had no keys to the elevator and the courthouse employees could not locate one, either. A key the sheriff’s department had turned out to be the wrong key, not to the elevator.
Daugherty said it was unfortunate the department had to pry open the doors, but they were not the first concern.
“Life and safety of the patient is our goal, so we got in,” he said. “We are going to reach the patient.”
According to Blaine County Clerk Heather Spangler Sawyer, it might take up to a year to repair the elevator, because the doors are so damaged they must be replaced entirely. That means the manufacturer must build the doors from scratch.
Anyone who needs to access the courthouse and cannot navigate the stairs is advised to contact the office they need to visit and an accommodation will be worked out. The court clerk is also working on a means to access the courtroom.
In the meantime, the Blaine County Elections Board has had to create a workaround to accommodate early voting.
Election secretary Brenda Rice said the early voting location must be handicapped accessible, so early voting has been moved to the north side of the Christian Church in the Fellowship Hall.
Early voting will go on as scheduled, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. March 2728. For more information or questions, call the county elections board at (580) 623-5518.