12-04-2025
Parents of newborn thank Little Rock firefighters for elevator rescue
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A Little Rock family at Baptist Health Hospital experienced a memory for the scrapbook Thursday night. Not just the birth of a son, but firefighters surrounding their newborn for a picture hours later.
Why were the firefighters called? The elevator got stuck as the infant's mother, Caroline Mitchell, explained.
'They were moving us up to like from labor and delivery to our post-partum room and we got stuck in the elevator,' Caroline said.
'I could use a Wolverine': Jennifer Garner gets trapped in elevator at Comic-Con
Though being trapped in the dark was nothing new to Beauregard 'Beau' Paul Mitchell, his parents, aunt and nurse called the Little Rock firefighters for deliverance.
Fire Station 15 drove to Baptist Hospital, ran up 15 floors to shut off the elevator, and opened the door. Elevator rescue is a call the Little Rock Fire Department estimates they respond to about 300 times a year.
The Mitchells said they spent an hour and a half stuck in the elevator Thursday. Little Rock firefighter Matt Kings said the door opened about three and a half feet off the ground between the second and third floors.
'They were like hey, let's take a picture holding little man, and then once we got they were like hey, let's take a picture all together,' Kings said.
LRFD Captain Phillip Prater stated this was his youngest rescue, and he is thankful it ended happily.
'We roll on so many calls that are bad. It's people's worst day. There's tragedy, there's pain and suffering involved. This is one of those incidents where it seems rare, but where we can make somebody's day better without all of that pain involved,' Prater said.
The Mitchell family was discharged Friday without a hitch. Beau's parent Jen Mitchell says firefighters might be the theme of Beau's first birthday, and if he cannot quite blow out his candles, they know who can help.
'We are so grateful to the Little Rock Fire Department. They came with smiles. They were so happy. They loved him, and I think he loved them too,' Jen said.
'I know I did,' Caroline added with a laugh.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
