One person was trapped inside an elevator on Friday when the doors malfunctioned.

Steinbach fire chief Kel Toews says this was at a condo building on Hanover Street.

The elevator was still on the main floor, not moving but also not opening the doors, explains Toews.

The chief says he’s not sure how long the woman was trapped inside before his team was called at around 1:30 pm on Friday.

"We got there, pried open the doors and got her out,” says Toews. “And we didn’t even use any tools, we just opened it from the outside with our hands, our bare hands and our brute strength.”

Toews says they only get called to elevator rescue situations around once every couple of years or so, because elevator malfunctions are usually handled by the maintenance department for the building.

Elevators usually have a phone or a phone number to contact someone in the event the elevator stops working.

Toews says, if it’s taking too long for help to arrive and panic is setting in, people can contact 9-1-1 and emergency crews will respond.