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Fire escape

For the album by Sunburned Hand of the Man, see Fire Escape (album). For the story from Gordon the High-Speed Engine, see List of The Railway Series books.
Fire escape in Greenwich Village
Fire escape in a public building in Rotterdam

A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building – occasionally inside, but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible. Fire escapes are most often found on multiple-story residential buildings, such as apartment buildings.

At one time, they were a very important aspect of fire safety for all new construction in urban areas; more recently, however, they have fallen out of common use. This is due to the improved building codes incorporating fire detectors; technologically advanced firefighting equipment, which includes better communications and the reach of firefighting ladder trucks; and more importantly, fire sprinklers. International building codes and other authoritative agencies have incorporated fire sprinklers into multi-story buildings below 15 stories – not just skyscrapers.