One person was injured after the elevator they were riding in dropped three floors on Monday morning in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood.
The San Francisco Fire Department reported it received a call at 8:44 a.m. about an elevator falling multiple floors with a person inside at 1475 Vallejo St. near Polk Street. Lt. Mariano Elias, a public information officer for SFFD, said the elevator fell “multiple floors and abruptly stopped” when the emergency brakes kicked in. While the elevator cab didn’t crash at the bottom of the elevator shaft, Elias explained the sudden stop can still cause injury.
“It’s like going 50 mph and slamming on the brakes,” he told SFGATE.
After SFFD responded, first responders had to use tools to access the injured individual and get them out of the elevator cab, Elias confirmed. “The adult patient sustained moderate to severe injuries and was transported to the hospital for treatment,” the department said in a news release.
The fire department receives many calls about people stuck in elevators in both old and new buildings in San Francisco, according to Elias, but he said injuries are rare. Instead, Elias said, SFFD more commonly will see people have “panic attacks” from being trapped in an elevator, “but not an injury per se from the drop.”
The four-story building was constructed in 1917, according to the San Francisco Office of the Assessor-Recorder, but it is not clear when the elevator was added. SFFD has notified the property owners and the San Francisco Department of Building Inspection about the incident.