North Lincoln Fire & Rescue Engine 1407 responded to a 911 call at 3:29 p.m. today regarding a hotel staff member stuck in an elevator on the second floor of Rodeway Inn & Suites, 1070 SE 1st St. in Lincoln City.
Responding quickly, firefighters used the stairs to access the elevator and used a key to free the man, who was inside by himself for close to 15 minutes.
“He bolted as soon as the door opened,” a rescuer said. “We didn’t even get to talk to him.”
“This is the second one of these we have had this month, and it won’t be the last,” another rescuer said about stuck-in-elevator calls in Lincoln City.
The hotel manager who called 911 said he did not have any disabled guests on that floor and would await the elevator repair company.
Got to love “Ambulance chasers” looking for disaster.
I am the manager of the Rodeway in Lincoln City. I made the call for assistance with an elevator issue this SENSATIONAL STORY is about. A couple minutes BEFORE NLFR arrived, A reporter? showed up and wanted to start roaming around to take pictures. He was asked to stay off property as help was on the way and I didn’t want him to hinder assistance workers.
While he did comply (by moving into the street), he immediately began talking with NLFR personnel when they arrived, saying he was hoping for a horns blaring arrival (which never happens in non emergency situations).
I directed NLFR personnel to the 2nd floor, where they opened the elevator doors and allowed hotel staff to return to their room. That staff member (though not speaking English well) wishes to thank NLFR for their assistance. I would like to note that anyone reporting facts would not have used the term “Bolted” in any manner when referring to this staff member.
As for the allusion that this hotel’s staff would give “guest” information to unauthorized personnel, we regret that the reporter failed to notice that the only staff on office duty was myself and I could state our policy is to not give any information to anyone (even those claiming to be family). In an emergency, Police may make contact with us and we fully cooperate with them.
I want to thank the Lincoln City Homepage Publisher for allowing me the chance to showcase the fact that our minor/major issue policies and procedures have worked flawlessly. . .
For giving me free press to say: if this is as major a news story as we can get here . . . well come and visit us. Relax – safe, sound and just a short stroll to the beach.
And lastly, for giving me the opportunity (even thought it be through a rebuttal) to thank emergency personnel for their rapid response to a stated non-emergency situation.
Good job guys!
Doug (Manager)
Rodeway Inn & Suites
Thank you for editing the article to reflect that i (the manager) made the initial call. And everything worked as it should. Your response time beat NLFR by a few seconds.
On a different note: A situation of which I became aware (FIRE ALARM at a local hotel; guests outside awaiting NLFR arrival; and determination that the call was a false alarm) appears to not be noteworthy enough to be covered (at least I haven’t seen an article yet).