Country music star Reba McEntire had a close brush with danger this week when she was rescued from a historic building in her native Oklahoma after a stairwell suddenly collapsed.
McEntire, 66, known for her hits including “Somebody Should Leave,” “Love Will Find Its Way to You” and “Whoever’s In New England,” was seen in video footage climbing down a ladder aided by firefighters.
“While my team and I were in Atoka, OK yesterday checking out an old historical building, a staircase collapsed,” she wrote on Twitter Wednesday.
“Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. We were safely evacuated from the building thanks to the quick response from the Atoka fire and police departments.”
Wearing a T-shirt, jeans and black sunglasses, McEntire was seen climbing out the window and down a ladder, her jacket tossed out after her, in the town about 130 miles southeast of Oklahoma City.
“Oh, it was pretty scary,” Coby Scherrill, who was touring the building with McEntire, told local television news station News 12 KXII on Tuesday.
“We were just touring the building and the stairwell was weak, it seemed weak,” he said. “But we did not realize how weak it was until several people had gone down it and then we heard the crash and saw the stairs fall.”
Scherrill said that the building was more than 100 years old and was being toured by McEntire for an unspecified future project.
Atoka Emergency Management Director Travis Mullins told the outlet that the incident had “opened our eyes to see exactly just how unsturdy” some older buildings in the area were and “what little was holding them up.”
Born in McAlester, Okla., McEntire’s career has spanned decades and taken her to Broadway, Hollywood and the small screen, with her popular television sitcom “Reba.” Her extensive brand has also seen her develop clothing and footwear lines in stores across the nation.
As one of country music’s top-selling and most influential female artists, she’s been dubbed the “Queen of Country” and has performed duets with stars such as Kelly Clarkson, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes and Justin Timberlake. She’s also sold over 56 million albums worldwide and is a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Coming from a background of rodeo and ranching, McEntire previously told The Washington Post in an interview that Oklahoma “is everything” to her.
Many of her fans took to social media to welcome their relief that McEntire was OK after the incident.
“Um, 2021, you are NOT ALLOWED to take Reba McEntire. Stop playin’ with us!!” wrote one fan. Another simply said: “You’re a survivor.”
It is not McEntire’s first escape from danger. In 1991, her tour manager and seven band members were killed in a plane crash outside San Diego; she had been recovering from bronchitis and had booked a later flight. Less than four weeks after that, she was back on tour.
“I can’t stop working when something like that happens,” she previously told The Post. “We all needed it, to keep going, or I would have wallowed in sorrow.”