Inspectors Shut Down 107 Elevators

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- State Labor Department officials say more than 100 elevators in the state have been shut down because of safety hazards.

Safety Standards division director Tom Monroe says 107 elevators were closed in the last fiscal year. And he says some of the elevators were so dangerous that only "by the grace of God" no one had been killed.

He says inspectors found one case of a forklift rigged to work like an elevator.

Monroe says the problem is so large because until 2006 there was no law requiring elevators be licensed and inspected -- although Oklahoma City and Tulsa have their own inspection programs.