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Title: Power outage leaves several trapped in buildings' elevators SEAN DAILEY STAFF WRITER May 16, 2000

An hourlong power outage Monday afternoon affected a nine-block area of downtown Springfield and stranded at least three people in elevators.

A malfunctioning transformer at the old Kmart Building, Fifth and Adams streets, was the culprit, according to City Water, Light and Power spokesman Ray Serati. The affected area was between Fourth and Seventh streets and Capitol Avenue and Washington Street.

Power went out at 3:26 p.m., and CWLP crews had it back on at 4:31, Serati said.

Though there were no reported injuries, people were trapped in elevators at two buildings.

One man was stranded between the seventh and eighth floors at the Leland Building, 527 E. Capitol Ave., which houses the Illinois Commerce Commission.

ICC spokesman David Farrell said Frank Bodine, assistant manager for the telecommunications division, was trapped until power came back on in that building at 4:08 p.m. Bodine was freed by Otis Elevator Co. workers, Farrell said.

"He said he pushed open the inside doors to get some air and some light from the shaft of the elevator," Farrell said. "He did reach down and was able to get on the emergency phone."

At about the same time, firefighters extricated two men from an elevator that was stuck between the third and fourth floors of the Ridgely Building, which houses the state Office of Banks and Real Estate and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.

Battalion Chief John Knox of the Springfield Fire Department said both men escaped unharmed.

Sean Dailey can be reached at 788-1526 or sean.dailey@sj-r.com. http://www.sj-r.com/news/00/05/16/o.htm

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