All forms of fire emergency ladders are instrumental in building safety, but it is essential to pay particular attention to external fire escapes. As the article recounts a fatal situation in SoHo, a fire escape inspection was being performed at the time of the incident. With the external fixture in poor shape to prove that even a simple step was enough to send the fixture crashing to the ground below, it is clear that fire escape maintenance was not maintained. With metal and steel fire escapes, particularly external fixtures, it is imperative to regularly provide maintenance such as fire escape repairs, maintenance, and necessary refurbishment of parts.
Fire escape ladders for apartments and multi-functional residences are vital factors determining building safety. In fire emergencies, these fixtures are used as a means of a fire escape, and they must be maintained in order to receive their fire escape certification confirming that they are safe and functional. Depending on the size of the building, other methods such as ground-level fire escape exits and external egress ladders can also be utilized to get tenants to safety. Still, the external fire escape systems such as ladders and balconies, primarily comprised of metal, can quickly become victim to weathering over time and prove to become as much of a danger as the fires they were built to guide people from.
As seasons are changing and weather patterns continue to flow, it is important to consider the effects that this has on your external fire escape fixtures (ladders, balconies, etc.) and ensure that they are kept in a durable shape to not only maintain and inspect them as well, but also maintain the weight of people utilizing them in time of emergency.