Lieutenant Matthew M. Saylor from Baltimore City Truck Company #10 sent in these photos he took during a recent inspection of his first due area. It’s a fire escape wrapped with razor wire. It might be a little surprising to find this on the way up (or down) in the middle of the night.
We understand that the building appears to be abandoned, and that may make this a no-go situation for some. But what if this was in a row of buildings and you ended up on top of this building while egressing from another adjoining building’s roof? Then you wouldn’t find this gem until you were on the way down.
It may look ugly, but if you made a search and needed a way down it would probably work. The OV upon notification that guys are making a search ‘should’ make an extreme effort to ladder the rear of the building, not only for his search but for the egress of our men inside. The razor wire should be tx’d via handie talkie. The building ‘appears to be vacant on the upper floors, but from the looks of that air conditioner might possibly have occupancy on the ground level. As a rule, never use counter weighted drop ladders, they fall off, are generally in disrepair, and in these pictures how comfortable would you be with a counter weight over your head?!
Stay Safe!
My opinion is, don’t trust the fire excapes. Ladder the building with “your” ladders so you know they are in top condition if needed. Relying on a fire escape is not always the safest bet on a good day, let alone when you have obstacles such as these. Ladder the building and have two ways down minus the fire escape. As Jon mentioned this should be relayed via handie talkie.
….Just when you thought you’ve seen it all….
did anyone else notice the saying painted on the wall under the booby trapped fire escape? seems kinda out of place i think
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Basically, if you ‘preplanned’ your path to Heaven as you have your first in area and trust in God (your Chief) you need not worry about the razor wire. 😉
It’s a bunt….(as others have stated) put up a portable ladder and thats it. NEVER USE THESE TYPES OF LADDERS FOR OUR ACCESS AND EGRESS (razor wire or not). IF they are down before we get there, great, let the occupants go down them…as we throw up our portable to the other side of the FE platform
I may be blind….but isn’t that wall mounted air conditioner going to prevent the fire escape from lowering?
ouch …. heavy smoke in the area + that mess = a LODD announcement in the future if it comes down. As far as a way out …. hmmm not this ol’boy, no way.
you gotta love sand-town
Let’s look at this from the ‘cup is half full’ perspective:
The razor wire has helped keep undesireables from gaining easy access to the upper levels of this building.
Perhaps even helping to prevent another Worcester-like incident (‘squatters’ causing a fire). We’ll never know.
I concur re laddering and not using fire escapes if you can help it.
i think this would cause a problem even before the fire department gets there. anyone who may need to use this fire escape cant because their “escape” is blocked by the razor wire
The Building is a 3 story end of group with a store located on the first floor. The second and third floors are vacant and used for storage.
Matt, great job finding that. Imiagine how many of us would drive right by there and not even see that. Then at 4 am we’d be getting stitches or worse.
A 3 story taxpayer, Potentially tough fire anyway. But you add that mess in there, who knows what else is hideing inside. I agree with Matt, you could definately find yourself trying to use that fire escape to strech a line to that roof top for a building fire in one of surrounding buildings.
Must have some pretty big rats to have to wrap a fire escape in razor wire…LOL…
Good catch!
Stay safe Brothers.
Im going with fitssiks. Ladder the building I feel safer using my stuff then something that isnt properly inspected and maintained.