A woman was hit by a train Monday evening and an elevator caught fire in the Southeastern Administration Building Tuesday morning.
Durant firefighters were dispatched at 5:48 p.m. after a woman was hit by a train at the Mineral Bayou railroad bridge near Billy Miller Park on South Third Avenue. According to a DFD report, the woman, who was described as elderly, had gashes on her head, arms, hands and legs. Most of the wounds were not actively bleeding. Bryan County EMS arrived and she carried down an embankment and placed into an ambulance.
Light ballasts caught fire inside an elevator in the Southeastern Administration building at approximately 7:50 Tuesday morning.
Dyanna Bowen, administrative assistant to the Dean of Graduate Studies/Graduate Coordinator, called 911 after she tried to get on the elevator when arriving on campus that morning.
“I walked to the elevator, pressed the button to call it to the first floor and heard popping sounds as it was coming down,” Bowen said. “I thought it was the custodian putting something into the trash can. The elevator door opened and I see things falling from the elevator roof and fire pooling on the floor of the elevator.
Dorothy Owens, assistant director of human resources, called campus police and she told Cameron Allivand, technology support specialist, to pull the fire alarm. Everyone then exited the building.
A campus police officer used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire and the building was closed for the day. Firefighters used ventilation fans to clear the building of smoke.
Bowen thanked the police and fire departments for their quick response.
“It was a very, very fast response by the fire department and campus police,” she said.
In a social media post, Owens said, “Super huge thankful shout out to SE Police Department, Durant Fire Department and Ambulance, and SE admin. “We had a small incident this morning that was swiftly taken care of. We appreciate you all.”
In other accidents, a woman was hit by a car May 1 on Highway 48 north of Highway 78 about three miles north of Durant, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.
Seventy-three-yearold Brenda Gray of Tishomingo was flown by AirEvac to a McKinney, Texas, hospital after the 4:12 p.m. accident. She suffered multiple injuries after being hit by a Toyota Sequoia driven by 78-year-old Dennis Self of Coleman, according to the OHP report. Coleman was not injured.
The cause of the accident was still under investigation at the time of the OHP report.
