Child locked in vault

wylk

Not “antique” related, but –

There’s a news item about a 14-month-old who was accidentally locked in a bank vault:

Baby Mistakenly Locked In Bank Vault - News Story - WSB Atlanta

I know this can be a real danger, and that emergency vents are often installed, but a young child might not be able to operate one from the inside. Are there any actual cases of death in such circumstances?

oldbiscuit

I saw that this morning on the news.Do you think that locksmith was under any pressure? It’s hard enough to do a job, but with everyone breathing down your neck (3hrs they said) I bet he was sweating!! They said he had to drill the lock to gain entry. My hat’s off to him. Mark🙁emo):

Pschiffe

oldbiscuit wrote
(3hrs they said) Mark🙁emo):

There seem to be lots of different versions of this story. I just watched the ABC evening news and they said it took five minutes to open the safe once the ‘emergency locksmith’ arrived!

Pete Schifferli

[unknown]

oldbiscuit

Hmmm, kind of makes one wonder how safe their money is if a locksmith can bypass a timelock and open that safe in 5 min… Not to say it can’t be done, but I would like to see it.🙁nerd):

Doug MacQueen

I heard about that last night from a friend. The same thing happened in Pennsylvania several years ago. That would be a lot of pressure but I imagine as long as the safe tech keeps his wits about him and directs the operation from the moment he gets the call it could go quite quickly upon arrival. The combinations would be already unlocked so depending on the door setup the time lock may be the only target. Determining make model and drillpoint could all be accomplished by another safe tech by camera phones as the tech is on his way. Considerations of least damage go out the window in a case like this so it would be a mag or vacuum press with a large drill bit. And there would be lots of willing helpers to get the tools inside and setup on the door. I have no doubt that at least a few deaths have occured but most likely that was in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s where several people were forced into a small vault over a much longer period than just a few hours. The poor child won’t even remember this but will have to deal with what will now be a very overprotective mother. Doug

thelockcollector

There was really no threat of the child suffocating in the vault even if the vents weren’t open. I don’t know how big the vault is but a sealed 12′×12′×8′ room has enough oxygen for an adult to survive for about 2 ½ days.

Doug MacQueen

I was not suggesting that there was immediate danger in this case. There are vaults that are quite small say 4 X 8. Given the right set of circumstances such as several adults in a vault this size, far from a compentent and quick response, the risk now becomes great. Today that’s hard to imagine but not so much out West a 100 years ago. Anyway all involved in this recent case would have little patience for anything less regardless of the reality of the danger involved. Thanks for facts though. I was wondering about that. Doug

thelockcollector

That’s funny 🙂-: . I meant “What Doug said” as “I agree with what Doug said”. It’s very common in forums to say “What _____ said” as a way of agreeing with someone and telling others that the post contains correct information etc…

wylk

FWIW the WSBTV video shows the vault door, it looks like a Diebold Titan series.

———- Post added at 05:46 PM ———- Previous post was at 04:46 PM ———-

There was a movie in 1957 called “Time Lock” which involves a young boy locked in a bank vault, and the efforts to free him. It’s also Sean Connery’s first speaking role in a film. A small part of the movie is on YouTube, see:

YouTube - Time Lock (1957) - excerpt

Doug MacQueen

To thelockcollector Sorry for that. I was not aware of that practice. Maybe you could post some pictures of what you have collected? Doug

wylk

I spent some time with Google, trying to discover actual cases of suffocation in vaults but I could not, unless you count the following two special cases:

1 - In 2000 a bank employee was accidentally locked in a vault. After a short time she pulled the fire alarm inside the vault, which filled it with CO2, killing her. I was surprised a fire system would be designed in this manner.

TRAGEDY IN BANK’S VAULT Colleagues grieve for employee who suffocated

2 - In 1893, H. H. Holmes opened a hotel plus commercial space for the Chicago world’s fair (Columbian Exposition). He proceeded to capture, torture, and murder many people. In some cases they would be locked in his bank vault and left to suffocate. The book rights have been purchased for a movie.

H. H. Holmes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, I have not yet found any cases of ordinary/accidental suffocation. Which does not diminish how dangerous a situation it could be.

Dean Nickel

If the bank employees are doing there job they will check the vault to make sure it is empty before closing. You wouldn’t want to lock someone trying to rob the bank in the vault. 😃: So if most of them do there job at closing the chance of locking someone in is reduced to maybe a few of the last 100 or more years.

Doug MacQueen

That was terrible about that poor woman. I suspect there was not a sign describing what would happen when that system was activated as the suppression system company doesn’t plan for a locked in employee. I see on Google there were numerous robberies where employees were locked in vaults. The fact that no deaths were found is not terribly surprising given the fact that most of the vaults I have been in have ventilation systems. But these seem to have been implemented since the early 1900’s. I have little doubt that there were at least a few way back when. On a complementary note I found a website claiming that only a handful of bank robberies actually occurred out West in the second half of the 1800’s. I think their research is flawed. Bigtime Doug

Dean Nickel

I know of three in just the Western part of the state of Washington from the 1870-1880s…. and I don’t know them all. The only reason I know about these three are the persons that did them were caught and hung but the money/gold wasn’t recovered. They know within several hundred miles of where the money is but it isn’t like you can find it in that large of a search grid back then. So treasure hunters have been trying to find it a hundred years later with modern tools. IF any of them was found nobody is speaking up.

I believe that the money was found by the lawman and he retired. But there is no proof either way.