Austin Man Paints Himself Into Corner, Trapped for 24 Hours

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Austin, TX - 11/11/07 — An elderly man painted himself into a corner of his North Austin home and was trapped there for more than 24 hours as the paint dried.

The story unfolded in the Wells Branch area of North Austin on Saturday. The man, who lives alone, was renovating his one-story home and had been painting several rooms of the house. His near-fatal mistake took place in a spare bedroom of the old house, where he mistakenly began painting the wood floors from the doorway inward — as opposed to working toward the door.

By the time he realized the error, he had painted himself into the rear corner of the bedroom.

“I was horrified when I turned around,” said 80-year-old Bart Billings. “I got caught up in my work and didn’t even think about where I was painting. I turned around and saw that I was trapped, and my heart just sank.”

To make matters worse, Billings had applied two coats of paint and a coat of over-sealer to the wood floors, which made the drying process take longer than usual.

“I thought I was done for,” said Billings. “My heart medication was in the other room, not even fifteen feet away, but I couldn’t get to it because of the paint.”

After being trapped in the room for nearly 24 hours, Billings caught a lucky break. His next-door neighbor went to a garden shed in his backyard that was near the window of the room where Billings was trapped. By shouting and knocking on the window, Billings was able to get the attention of his neighbor, who called the police.

Twenty minutes later, the fire department was able to extricate Billings from the painted room by using a hoist and harness system to lift him over the still-drying paint.

Image: Paramedics take precautions removing Billings from the home

Billings was taken to Seton Hospital in North Austin where he was found to be dehydrated but otherwise in good health. He was released within an hour.

Billings says he will continue refurbishing the floors in his home, but he will be more careful to start in the back and work toward the door.