Portland firefighters spent Tuesday afternoon slowly cranking a stalled elevator car upward, inch by careful inch, so they could line it up with a floor and finally reach the people trapped inside. Officials described the work as painstaking but headed in the right direction, with crews operating from a nearby theater control room while a technical rescue team made its way to the scene and staff and elevator technicians coordinated behind the scenes.
Crews are advancing the elevator upwards manually to align with a landing to gain access to the car. This is a slow process but positive direction is occurring.
— Portland Fire & Rescue (@PDXFire) April 28, 2026
Portland Fire’s On-Scene Update
According to Portland Fire & Rescue, crews were manually advancing the elevator car upward to bring it level with the closest landing so rescuers could get to the occupants. The bureau said the manual movement is slow but has shown what it called “positive direction,” with firefighters controlling the car from the theater control room while a technical rescue team headed to the area to assist.
Why Crews Sometimes Move Cars By Hand
Manually moving a stalled elevator car, or using emergency manual controls, is a standard option when a power or control failure leaves the car stuck between floors. Technical rescue guides explain that firefighters typically coordinate with an elevator mechanic, but may still carry out manual advancement, top-of-car access, or hoistway-door operations to free passengers safely. Those tactics require strict lock-out/tag-out procedures and can stretch on for hours. Fire Engineering outlines the common steps in detail.
Long Rescues Are Not Uncommon Here
Portland crews have been through marathon elevator calls before. In one prior incident, two people were rescued after being trapped for nearly five hours, according to KXL. Elevator outages also stack on top of existing accessibility challenges around the city. A recent Hoodline report highlighted long-term failures at Union Station that left neighbors stranded and reliant on awkward workarounds…