Worker Trapped 80 Feet Underground Rescued From Elevator Shaft

LAKE BLUFF, IL — Rescuers from multiple fire departments rescued an employee who was trapped in an elevator more than seven stories underground Friday at a water treatment facility in Lake Bluff, authorities said.

Lake Bluff's fire and police departments received a report around 1:30 a.m. of a person trapped in an elevator at the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency facility in the 700 block of East Blodgett Avenue, according to a release from Lake Bluff Police Chief Mike Hosking.

Personnel at the scene determined a high-angle special rescue was needed to get the person out of an elevator that had malfunctioned 80 feet below ground level, about three quarters of the way down the shaft, according to Deputy Chief Matt Smizinski.

The Lake Bluff Fire Department triggered the mutual aid alarm to call rescuers from numerous local agencies to the scene. Fire departments from Antioch, Buffalo Grove, Countryside, Deerfield-Bannockburn, Gurnee, Highland Park, Lake Villa, Lincolnshire, Long Grove, Newport, Northbrook, Northfield, Round Lake, Wauconda and Zion assisted at the scene or by providing coverage for potential emergency calls in Lake Bluff during the rescue, Smizinski said.

Police said a member of the special rescue team rappelled down the elevator shaft and met with the trapped person, a water agency employee who was doing routine maintenance when the elevator stopped working.

The staffer rescue was completed around 3 a.m.

Bill Soucie, director of operations for the water agency, said the elevator door malfunctioned near the bottom of the shaft, getting stuck with only a narrow opening. Rescuers brought the operator up about 30 feet to the first basement level, where there are stairs leading to the ground floor.

Soucie said the elevator was up to date with its inspections and certifications. Contractors called in to carry out repairs Friday attributed the door problem to normal wear and tear, he said.

Headquartered in Lake Bluff, the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency provides water to a population of more than 190,000 in 12 communities from Lake Bluff, to Vernon Hills, to Round Lake, according to its website.

The agency, which did not immediately return a message seeking more information, was formed in 1986 and its its water supply system, which includes facilities in Lake Bluff as well as a booster pump station in Libertyville, became operational in 1992.