It was a dire situation for some residents at a Bakersfield high-rise apartment complex over the holiday weekend. The elevators were down at Plaza Towers which means those with disabilities couldn't get in and out of their apartment.
Residents said their elevators had been working on an off for the past six days. Then Sunday they shut down completely.
However Monday afternoon, residents said a repairman got one of the elevators working. Residents are hoping the elevators stay fixed.
Imagine life in a wheelchair, living in this high rise, without a working elevator. That's what happened to 69-year-old Meredith Barron over the weekend.
"Not being able to go up and down, it's like not having no kind of independence or freedom or nothing cause you couldn't do nothing but stay there," said Meredith Barron, 3rd floor resident at Plaza Towers.
Residents say problems with the two elevators in this senior housing complex started six days ago.
"For a while the elevators were on and off. The one was stuck on three and the door wouldn't shut so it wouldn't work," said Barron.
Then Sunday residents said they stopped working all together.
"Me, myself, I had to sit on the step and scoot down. I had to go up the same way. It's harder going up than it is coming down," said Barron.
Monday afternoon residents say their main elevator, started back up, but they worry an elevator breakdown may happen again and the consequences could be worse.
"It's frightening. What if someone has a stroke and they die, then what are they going to go oh I am sorry?" said Phyllis Roundtree, 12th flood resident at Plaza Towers.
The Kern Housing Authority that operates this property could not be reached for comment. However their service operator said they received several calls about this problem.
This is not the first time something like this has happened.
Back in April of 2004, both elevators broke. This left about 100 residents stuck on the top floors. This forced the Kern Housing Authority to evacuate and relocate those disabled residents.
