Dallas Fire and Rescue crews rescued 15 people from the Los Angeles Chargers travel party – both players and staff – who were trapped in an elevator at the Westin hotel in downtown Dallas on Friday night.
The Chargers are in town on Saturday for their final preseason game against the Cowboys and confirmed in a social media post that members of the team were trapped in a non-functioning elevator in the team hotel.
“Dallas Fire-Rescue responded to the incident and subsequently assisted everyone exiting the elevator individually through the ceiling panel into an adjacent elevator,” the statement said. “The Lost Angeles Chargers thank Dallas Fire-Rescue for their quick response, professionalism and significant efforts to ensure everyone’s safety.”
DFR said emergency crews responded to reports of an elevator emergency at around 7:44 p.m. Officials said an elevator technician attempted to get the elevator running again, but was unsuccessful. So DFR sent its Urban Search and Rescue team to the scene and rescue crews found the elevator stuck in a “blind shaft” somewhere between the third and 15th floors of the hotel. They then had to evacuate everyone to safety through a ceiling panel.
A source told ESPN’s Kris Rhim that Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh invited all DFR employees to the team dining room for a meal afterward.
Although the team has not confirmed which players and staff members were involved in the ordeal, 15 people for one elevator sounds like a lot – especially if some of those 15 were big-time football players.
The Chargers and Cowboys will begin their final preseason game at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday at AT&T Stadium, assuming everyone gets off the elevator, of course.
