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Website with videos is at <a class="user" href="http://www.escaperescue.com/work/&quot;&gt;http://www.escaperescue.com/work/&lt;/a&gt; I think the New York officials are right. While the system would work for a small fire that was isolated to one side of the building, I can see lots of potential issues with a September 11th type of event. The system uses cranes on the roof of the building. One of the problems with the World Trade Center attacks is some of the upper floors were effectively severed from the lower floors due to debris or fire. If the support structure was damaged, (the support structure being the roof and everything holding the roof up) it wouldn’t be safe to use in a rescue. As the article states, passengers would be at risk of exposure to fire, heat, and explosions while in the lift. While having these rigs on every side of the building would be a valid solution for most emergencies, if every side of the building is burning, there is no way to avoid such exposure. Another concern I have is that this system only addresses the exterior of the building. The interior of the building is just as important if not more so. Redesign of the interior of the building that was adding this system may be required. Additional fire doors, fire suppression systems, etc. would be needed as the building codes are focused around protecting the current exit routes. (The stairs) Simply adding the lifts to a building isn’t enough, the building would have to protect the routes to the lifts. Lastly (for me anyway) this system is basically an elevator. Those “in case of fire, do not use the elevator” signs are there for a good reason. Issues aside, given the choice of no way out and certain death and an option that offers a 1% chance of survival, a 1% chance looks worlds better than 0%.

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