FARMINGTON — Going up? Not so fast.
Tuesday morning, about nine people temporarily got stuck in the elevator in the new $15.6 million Davis County Administration Office building set for a Nov. 9 ribbon cutting.
But members of American Legion Auxiliary Girls State came to the rescue.
People were trapped in the elevator on the first floor of the new three-story building for a few minutes before members of Girls State, area high school students, were able to pry the doors open from the outside of the inoperable elevator.
“We were stuck,” Davis County Sheriff Chief Deputy Kevin Fielding said.
Among those trapped in the elevator were Davis County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings, an American Legion member, a handful of students, Fielding and this reporter.
The alarm and intercom system in the elevator were operating, but before rescue crews arrived, several girls standing outside the elevator doors pried their fingers in the closed elevator door to help spring it open.
The girls were en route to the Davis County Commission meeting when they took their quick action.
After witnessing the incident, and with the second elevator in the building already marked “out of order,” the crowd took the stairs to get to the regularly scheduled commission meeting, which was on the third floor of the building.
The girls from American Legion Auxiliary Girls State, as well as some boys from AL Boys State, attended the commission meeting to be recognized for their commitment to civic duty and service in bettering the nation.
During the commission meeting, Fielding publicly shared with Commissioners Bret Millburn and Louenda Downs that members of Girls State saved people who had become stuck in the elevator.
Upon the Boys and Girls State attendees receiving recognition for attending the state conference that provides instruction in civic responsibilities, officials advised the teens to take the stairs down to the first floor.
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