Wednesday, September 03, 2014

The only Paris fire escape?

You could almost think this photo was taken in an old American city and though I took it yesterday in the 10th arrondissement in Paris. This is, as far as I know, the only fire escape that exists in Paris! I really don't know why they have it on this particular building, except that it's a theater (but no other theaters have such fire escapes in Paris, so that does not really explains it). I looked on the web and could not find anything about it. Anyway, I'm glad we don't have more of these in Paris, because they are not exactly beautiful...  

17 comments:

  1. You capture this one well. Well, they're beautiful if one's fleeing a fire!

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  2. Definitely the best one to escape ... and feel ... good.

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  3. Great the way you framed it for the photo.
    What happens if there is a fire in several-story buildings that don't have a fire escape? How do people escape?

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  4. Eric...

    They're usually there to save your life versus making the neighborhood pretty !!

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  5. Fire escapes aren't found on buildings like these here in the UK either. In the event of fire you either escape via the stairwell, or if that's not possible, you get rescued by the fire service. I don't think that the absence of external fires escapes has had any effect on the number of fire deaths.

    I suspect its the same for most/rest of Europe.

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    1. "I don't think that the absence of external fires escapes has had any effect on the number of fire deaths"/ I don't think so either, but I don't know for sure.

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  6. They're beautiful when they save lives. I can't believe Paris doesn't require them on all public buildings over three stories! As for getting rescued from outside - that's not always possible.

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    1. Well, in fact we don't have that many fires here.

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  7. Red Cardinal brings up a point: we're lawsuit happy in the states, which could be why we have more fire escapes.

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  8. Looking on Google Map, there is another fire escape just around the corner, though it may be the same theater. I would guess that they were constructed before modern fire truck ladders could reach that high. The Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire was an example in New York of a tall building where many people died in a fire or from leaping to the street to escape the flames. Of course, they were locked in the building by the factory owners. A fire escape is not real pretty but where there is no back alley to put it, I guess it has to be on the front. -Jeff

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    1. Well you're probably right, there are apparently at least one another one in another theater someone told me.

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  9. I can't believe I never noticed the absence of fire escapes in Paris (and glad I've never needed one when there)!

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  10. but what happens when you run out of escape 5 floors from the top ? what on earth is that black thing on the left? - I do hope it helps.

    (maybe it is obvious to everyone but me)

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  11. Possibly built by an American? I too thought of the Triangle Shirtwaist fire before I scrolled down. But coming from New York City, I'm used to seeing them. They don't seem ugly or beautiful, they are just part of the scenery. The black thing on the left is probably the part of the apparatus that connects the lowest "balcony" to the ground by sliding down. It may even *be* a slide.

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