UConn’s Buckey Residence Hall. One of the building’s elevators shut down on freshmen move-in day, leaving five students stuck for 15 minutes. (File Photo/The Daily Campus)
With four husky haulers and one new freshman trapped inside, the elevator in Buckley Hall’s south tower shut down at 11 a.m. on freshmen move-in day. The students were stuck inside for almost 15 minutes before the UConn fire department arrived.
“A wheel of the drawers fell off and got stuck in the elevator door,” said Zach Higgins, a 3rd semester pre-kinesiology major who was helping the hundreds of honors freshmen move in to the Shipley residence area Friday morning. “We just thought, ‘what happened?’ and then noticed the drawers weren’t level and saw the wheel stuck in the corner.”
When the fire fighters on scene stopped and unlocked the elevator door the five students emerged sweaty, but smiling.
“It was a little scary in the beginning when the elevator went up and then dropped a little, but we could hear that the fire department was coming soon,” said Mary Donato, a 3rd semester Environmental Studies major.
The fire department inspected the elevator for any other mechanical issues that could pose a threat before opening it back up to the waiting crowd of new UConn families.
Julia Werth is news editor for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at julia.werth@uconn.edu. She tweets @jboelwerth.