Payment for fire brigade

My elderly parents over 80 years old are of ill-health with heart conditions. They were stuck in the elevator of the condo where we live for over 2 hours. This is because the superintendent told the security to call the elevator technicians and he didn't. They both misunderstood that the other had called.

After 1,5 hours when my father who cannot stand or walk long distances had been sitting on the elevator floor in pain, and my mother was in a big panic, I called Lifeline Emergency services to which we subscribe. They, being familiar with my parents' state of health, called the fire brigade.

At that time after numerous requests, I convinced the superintendent to check if the technicians had been called. They arrived 10 minutes after the fire brigade. Now the condo management want me to pay for the fire brigade because they do not consider that this was an emergency. In fact, it was a traumatic time for my parents and they could have died of stress and panic in the elevator.

I wrote to condo management to explain the situation and to say that I felt they should be paying due to their error and the broken elevator (we do pay $665/month in condo fees). Now without warning, I have a collections agency hounding me for payment on the telephone.

Please, if anyone can tell me whether I have any rights in this matter, or whether I need to pay them for saving my parents from physical and emotional harm (they will not enter any elevators without me after this incident). I don't have the money to get legal help which will probably cost me more than the $700 for the fire brigade. Surely when the lives of two seniors are at risk, that this is an emergency?

I would appreciate any objective comment from anyone here. Thank you.

Sorry I forgot to mention that I own the condo unit, not rent it.