Trapped fire fighters use life-saving rope
DISPATCHES
Photos by Bob Pressler
An electrical fire raced through a six-story, brickand-joist apartment complex in New York City last November, trapping two fire fighters on the top floor balcony of the fire escape.
Equipped with a 150-foot, 9/16-inch, three-strand, nylon, life-saving rope, the fire fighters wrapped one end around a substantial object and snapped the rope’s hook back on the rope to secure it. They then turned the rope through the hook on their life belts creating a friction to control their single slides to the relative safety of the floors below.
According to reports, the suspended ceilings and partitions in the converted 19th century structure enabled the 5:25 a.m. fire to travel easily and undetected through a labyrinth of voids.
All 115 apartments were evacuated. One hundred fifty fire fighters brought the blaze under control after more than two hours and saved 61 apartments from total destruction.
