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Disabled residents of Tucson House raising concerns around out-of-service elevators

All three elevators in Tucson House stopped working Sunday night, staff able to repair one of the elevators Monday morning
Tucson House
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TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Tucson Fire Department responded to a medical rescue on Monday morning on the 15th floor of Tucson House while all three elevators were out of service. As the City of Tucson worked on repairs, the incident ended up requiring first responders to slowly hoist the individual down the stairwell.

Residents have reached out to KGUN 9 about issues at Tucson House, but this raised other concerns for people living in the building, especially those who require wheelchairs to get around.

RELATED | 'It's barely tenable now': Tucson House residents concerned for their living conditions

“I've been in that elevator before when it's stopped me mid-floor. And I waited three hours for the fire department to get in and take me out," said Alice Ellis, recalling previous experiences with the elevators.

Another resident, Angie Rose, said she had a similar situation happen to her.

“I was stuck in the elevator for two hours,” said Rose.

On Monday morning, they both described having to wait several hours before being able to take out their dogs. They worried for their safety because of what they say they have seen happening in the past.

“The elevators are definitely unreliable, all they do is put bandaids on it," said Rose, frustrated with the living conditions. “They don't have to live here, but they also don't want to take responsibility for making this place safe and humane for the humans that live in it.”

The public housing complex owned by the City of Tucson has been scheduled for renovation, which is expected to start in July 2025.

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Reyna Preciado is a reporter for KGUN 9, she joined the KGUN 9 team in July of 2022 after graduating Arizona State University. Share your story ideas with Reyna by emailing reyna.preciado@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, or Twitter.