Fenway Park elevator closed amid investigation

First responders were on the scene at Fenway Park Friday night. Barry Chin/Globe staff/Globe Staff

State elevator inspectors were at Fenway Park Saturday, trying to determine how a 22-year-old woman fell two stories down an elevator shaft late Friday night.

The victim was with other people when she fell from the fourth floor and landed on top of the elevator car, which was stopped on the second floor, Boston Fire Department spokesman Steve MacDonald said.

Reached by phone Saturday night, relatives of the victim, Lizzy Scotland of Brigantine, N.J., thanked the public for their concern and asked for prayers and privacy while they focus on her recovery. Scotland’s name was first reported by WBZ-TV.

Authorities received a call reporting the fall at 11:17 p.m., after the Red Sox game had ended. The plunge knocked the victim unconscious, McDonald said, and she was not responsive when firefighters arrived to extricate her.

She was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in serious condition. The hospital said Saturday afternoon that it could not give an update on her condition.

“It remains to be seen how she went through the doors on the fourth floor,” MacDonald said. “We don’t know if both doors opened, or one door opened, or if the bottom of the door gave way and she fell through that spot. We’re looking at all the equipment.”

In a brief statement released Saturday afternoon, the Red Sox acknowledged the woman suffered “serious injuries,” and said team personnel had worked alongside first responders Friday to help her. A spokeswoman also said in an e-mail that the remaining elevators in the park were inspected before Saturday night’s game as a precaution.

The team, whose principal owner, John Henry, also owns The Boston Globe, declined further comment, citing the ongoing investigation and its wish to respect the family of the injured woman.

Terrel Harris, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Board of Elevator Regulations, said he was not aware of any safety concerns about other elevators in the park.

“That elevator has been taken out of service, and it will remain closed until DPS completes an inspection,” Harris said, noting that investigators will also comb through maintenance records. “Their priority is handling the scene right now and ensuring the safety of everybody in the park.”

To rescue the victim, firefighters shut off power, then climbed through a hatch in the roof of the elevator car with paramedics, MacDonald said. They carried her on a flexible plastic stretcher.

MacDonald did not know who her companions were.

The rescue went smoothly in part, he said, because firefighters on the department’s technical rescue team routinely train in a mock elevator shaft, and because firefighters work closely with Fenway Park officials to familiarize themselves with the layout of the stadium.

A Boston Police Department spokeswoman said detectives had investigated the fall and believed it was an accident.

“Right now, it’s not a criminal investigation,” Officer Neva Coakley said.