If you live in a double-story, or three-story home, its a recommended safety precaution to get a fire escape ladder. With about half a million fires reported yearly in the US for residential properties, fire is a potential threat that cannot be ignored. As fire can engulf a home in as little as 60 seconds, its important to provide an alternate escape route for people situated off the ground floor. The National Fire Protection Association recommends one ladder in every occupied room on floors above the ground level.
escape ladder
A portable fire escape ladder folds up to a convenient size that can be stored in a cupboard, or under a bed. To use a portable fire escape ladder, place the ladder hooks over a window sill, and then unroll the ladder on the outside wall of the house down to the ground.
The first obvious consideration when buying a portable fire escape ladder, is the ladder length. For a double-story home, the ladder should be at least 12 foot high. For a three-story home, the ladder should be at least 20 foot high.
The second important consideration is the weight the fire escape ladder can hold. As it may be necessary to have more than one person on the ladder at a time in order for everybody to exit the building in a timely manner, any portable fire escape ladder should be rated to carry a weight of at least 800 pounds (distributed on more than one rung).
You also need to ensure that the ladder hooks of the portable fire escape ladder will be wide enough to hook onto the window sills of your home. Fortunately, most portable fire escape ladders sold today are designed to hook over the window sill of walls of any thickness. Also check that the ladder comes with anti-slip rungs , so that your feet won’t slip off the ladder whilst descending.
The Kidde KL-2S 13-Foot Two-Story Fire Escape Ladder
For a three-story building, you can look at the Kidde 468094 25-Foot Three-Story Fire Escape Ladder
Tags: fire escape, fire escape ladder, home safety
