Fire Department

A Madison woman was babysitting her two-year-old granddaughter and caring for the family dog when she stepped outside to let the dog onto the back patio. Her playful two-year-old granddaughter, not too far behind, flipped the lock on the patio door, accidentally locking out Grandma.

The girl was too young to understand how to unlock the door and, lacking a spare key, Grandma called for help from the Madison Fire Department.

Ladder Company 7 arrived and met with Grandma by the back door. Together, firefighters and Grandma tried to talk the girl into flipping the lock open to no avail. Two Madison police officers joined the effort to convince her to turn that latch in the opposite direction. The girl started to become scared and began to cry.

As firefighters circled the home looking for other means of entry, a police officer offered to call a locksmith, but Grandma did not want to wait. She was concerned the little girl would wander around inside the house and get hurt, or even fall down the stairs. Calls to homeowners and other relatives who might have an additional key went unanswered, and neighbors were unable to help.

The girl continued to cry, and Grandma became more distressed. After exhausting other creative options for entry, firefighters offered to enter through a window and unlock the home from the inside. That seemed like the quickest option, so Grandma gave Ladder 7 permission to do just that. A firefighter crawled through a garage window and opened up the back door to let everyone in.

Ladder 7 secured the window as Grandma warmed up inside the house, her little granddaughter calming down in her arms.