--- title: 'Chicago Fire' Actor Helps Real Firefighters Save Tourists Trapped In Elevator | TIME description: 'Chicago Fire' star Jesse Spencer is used to playing the hero, but he became one in real life - or at least gave the real guys an assist - when he helped firefighters save tourists in a trapped elevator at the Illinois State Capitol Sunday. canonical: https://time.com/video/h69pJ2TN/ og:title: 'Chicago Fire' Actor Helps Real Firefighters Save Tourists Trapped In Elevator og:description: 'Chicago Fire' star Jesse Spencer is used to playing the hero, but he became one in real life - or at least gave the real guys an assist - when he helped firefighters save tourists in a trapped elevator at the Illinois State Capitol Sunday. og:url: https://time.com/video/h69pJ2TN/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/h69pJ2TN/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Chicago Fire' Actor Helps Real Firefighters Save Tourists Trapped In Elevator twitter:description: 'Chicago Fire' star Jesse Spencer is used to playing the hero, but he became one in real life - or at least gave the real guys an assist - when he helped firefighters save tourists in a trapped elevator at the Illinois State Capitol Sunday. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/h69pJ2TN/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # 'Chicago Fire' Actor Helps Real Firefighters Save Tourists Trapped In Elevator > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: 'Chicago Fire' Actor Helps Real Firefighters Save Tourists Trapped In Elevator [Watch (HLS stream): 'Chicago Fire' Actor Helps Real Firefighters Save Tourists Trapped In Elevator](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/h69pJ2TN.m3u8) (1:25)  _Published 2014-04-03. 'Chicago Fire' star Jesse Spencer is used to playing the hero, but he became one in real life - or at least gave the real guys an assist - when he helped firefighters save tourists in a trapped elevator at the Illinois State Capitol Sunday._ --- Jul 27, 2023 4:21 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Volunteers in Turkey Try to Save Animals Trapped in Rubble After Devastating Earthquake](/video/ID2pc5ur/) ### Volunteers in Turkey Try to Save Animals Trapped in Rubble After Devastating Earthquake [Tourists Trapped In Cable Cars Have Been Rescued](/video/cOCfTdHA/) ### Tourists Trapped In Cable Cars Have Been Rescued [Trapped at the Edge of Ukraine’s War](/video/DDZwliYu/) ### Trapped at the Edge of Ukraine’s War --- ## Transcript Chicago Fire star Jessie Spencer is used to playing the hero, but he became one in real life or at the very least, gave the real guys an assist when he helped firefighters save tourists in a trapped elevator. Spencer was with his parents, and a group of 30 others touring the 125 year old Illinois state capitol, when they got stuck in an elevator for nearly 45 minutes. Some of Spencer's fellow passengers recognized his as Lieutenant Matt Casey from the show. And others thought he was areal fire fighter. Spencer was wearing a baseball cap with a fire department logo on it. 27 and. The Australian actor decided to put his onset skills to use, by keeping the group calm. And prying open the doors just enough to get air in, and obtain a cell phone signal to dial 911. Admin wouldn't call the fire department. They wanted to call the elevator mechanic. But we didn't know how long he was gonna be there. And then people were starting to freak out so, yeah eventually I, I, I managed to get the doors open. A rescue crew arrived and opened the doors from the outside to help everyone out. Springfield Fire Captain Trey McCormick told people, the actor did the right thing on the decision not to wait for the mechanic. The captain said, I think he knew that the fire department should be the one who should be called. Afterwards Spencer posted this tweet, posing with the crew, and thanking them for the rescue. Thanks for watching. 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