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In the memory of the victims of 9/11:

An idea that may someday prevent others from

being trapped inside a burning building

 

The tragic events of 9/11 led me to think that something must be done to prevent people from being trapped in high-rise buildings during fires and/or other possible emergencies. Also, my motivation is somewhat selfish because I myself work on the 39th floor of a high rise building, and live on the 13th floor of an apartment building, both in Manhattan, and neither of which, I believe, have the proper means of egress in case of a fire. Sure, they both have stairs and elevators. But, what happens when the elevators become non-operational and the stairs fill with smoke?

 

(a picture I found at 72words.com)

 

In coming up for an idea for a fire escape from high rise buildings, I thought of a design that would satisfy these requirements:

 

  1. The fire escape must be outside the building. Anything inside the building may fill with smoke. Furthermore, it must allow people to descend at least 3 meters from the building. Anything closer may be too close to the sides of a burning building.
  2. The fire escape must be simple to use. In the event of a fire, people will not have time to operate a complex device.
  3. The fire escape must allow people to leave quickly. All the people in the high-rise should be able to evacuate within 15 minutes.
  4. The fire escape must be aesthetically pleasing.
  5. The fire escape must be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and install. Otherwise, no one will manufacture or install it. Preferably, it should be made from readily available parts.

 

The idea I came up with is quite simple. It is explained here in a few words and followed by a diagram. The basic idea is to have a plank extending several feet from the side of a building on each floor. The plank should have railings for people to hold on to. The plank should be retractable, or should rotate out, so that when it is not in use, it can be stored inside the building. (A window can be broken or removed to allow the plank to come out). A long rope should hang from a support at the edge of the plank so that it starts at about shoulder level and hangs all the way down to the ground below. The plank should be strong enough to support the weight of several people on the rope. The people will get to safety by descending along the rope using some standard mountain-climbing equipment. In particular, a harness, a few caribeeners, and a friction-breaking device that can slide along the rope at various speeds depending on the pressure applied to a lever. The equipment should be stored inside the building by each of the planks. On each floor, there should be a plank, and enough equipment for each person to be able to get to safety.

 

 

 

 

To conclude, I believe that this idea, if implemented, could save countless lives not only from terrorist attacks, but from ordinary fires like the ones that occur when someone accidentaly leaves a pan cooking on a stove. It is quite likely that there is good money to be made in manufacturing, selling and installing these sort of devices. Maybe the idea can be patented. I am not quite sure on either point. Either way, I believe that the best way to remember and honor the tragedy of 9/11 is to do what we can to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

Ilya Rosenberg, 11/26/2002

 

Any idea, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Please email them to me at

(note: the above is a picture of my email so that web crawlers won't read it)

 

 

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