I recently was in downtown St. Louis with my family for a day with the kids before school started. We were across the street from the building in the picture.
What you see in this picture is just a row of windows, right? Well, they are labeled, which is nice because if they weren’t there could be big problems.
You can see in the second picture that the labels identify this as an elevator shaft. This is a heads up move for the building department and/or fire department for requiring this labeling.
Just imagine trying to make entry or counting dwelling/unit windows for RIT or emergency escape and finding out about this later.
This is just another example of knowing your area and the unique construction methods that are used.
Get in your buildings and be familiar. Had these not been labeled and a significant fire broke out here, this could have caused some serious problems.
Just for fun, what kinds of problems can we identify as a result of these windows not being labeled? I look forward to hearing some great ideas.
Stay safe and be careful.
Also on FirefightersEnemy …
- More Building Construction for Size Up – February 3, 2012
- Always Preplanning – May 16, 2012
- The Glove Friendly RIT Mask – November 12, 2012
- Get Around – March 7, 2012
Awesome. 1 question. Are they actual windows? Or are they walled up on the inside? If they are real windows they would make removing people from elevators easier.
The impression I got from looking at them from the outside is that they are boarded up.
Ya. You can see in the picture that they are boarded with a single sheet of ply. Still would make an interesting approach to elevator rescue though.