I work in a new four story brick building reminiscent of older architecture and it got me wondering why we never see exterior fire escapes on buildings anymore. It makes sense to me that if a building is filled with fire and smoke, evacuating people on the exterior of the building would be safer. Am I wrong in this?
Where do you live? There’s a fire escape on pretty much every building in my neighborhood.
Some fire codes simply require that a room of a certain size have a certain number of exits. In older buildings, the solution was to bolt the extra exit onto the outside. Newer buildings are often designed with multiple staircases and doors, which may be enough to avoid being required to have a fire escape.
In most newer buildings, the stairwell has a separate ventilation/emergency lighting system that makes it just as safe as a fire escape.
Thanks. My building does have three staircases, with fire doors and probably separate ventilation. But I liked seeing the old fire escapes. They made one feel better to see them.
But now I think about it, a separately ventilated stairwell is probably safer than the old fire escapes. Smoke could be pouring from windows and overcome you on the fire escape. You could also fall, especially if many frantic people were crowded together.
Don’t forget, old-time fire escapes were made of iron. Metal is a very efficient conductor of heat. Fires are hot and often made rod-iron fire escapes too hot to handle all the way to the ground.
While I am sure that fires escapes saves lives every year, the nearest I can tell, their most useful modern purpose is for kung fu fights in movies.
WAG: Maybe sprinkler systems have taken their place.
This is what I’d guess, too.
I used to work in an old, multi-story brick building with an iron fire escape. It was a maintenance nightmare and a money pit. It had to be painted, de-rustified, re-welded, inspected, and cleaned (pigeons loved it) on a regular basis. It was an attractive nuisance to the neighborhood children and it was a menace to personal safety in the winter, when it contributed to ice formation on the sidewalk.
I bet all that money, effort, and time is better invested in more direct measures like smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, and sprinkler systems.
As mentioned, they are a maintenance nightmare. And if not maintained, a safety nightmare. Also increases chances of criminals breaking in through a window. Above all, they were home to baby pigeons and quack-echoing ducks!
This is the case in DC. When fire codes were updated back in the (70’s? 80’s?), owners of buildings (especially in historic districts) complained about having to rip up their multimillion dollar homes to install sprinkler systems. Other owners just couldn’t afford the upgrade. Thus, a provision was allowed. Namely, they didn’t have to comply with new building codes requiring the installation of sprinklers as long as they kept their fire escapes in working order.