New Fireskape System Helps Children Avoid Being Trapped by Upstairs Fire

SCHOOLCRAFT -- While many children sleep in second-story bedrooms, few families have a plan for enabling those children to safely escape from their room if a fire breaks out.

The patent-pending Fireskape system solves the issue with a combination of a securely fastened toy box or window seat with an escape ladder to create a safe, reliable route out bedroom windows.

The handcrafted Fireskape toy box or window seat is mounted to the wall below the window so that the ladder will remain steady while the user exits the window. The collapsible escape ladder is folded inside the box and can support children as well as adults. The boxes or window seats feature a split-lid design so that users can remove the ladder and put it in place without obstruction. Smaller children can kneel on the closed part of the lid as a height boost for reaching and operating window locks. The ladder is securely mounted to the box, which prevents the ladder from sliding during exit from a fire.

The Fireskape system comes in three sizes: the 24-inch high Chloe for oversized windows that are further from the floor; the 18-inch high Baylee for standard sized windows; and the Paige, which is 17 and one-half inches high. Both the Baylee and Paige have raised bottoms to allow heat registers to vent air into the room. Buyers can choose from a variety of colors or request a custom color.

"The Fireskape system was invented with our kids' safety in mind," said Stacy Outman, inventor and CEO. "For many children, just having an escape ladder stored in their closet, under their bed or wherever is not enough. The precious time that is required to remember where the ladder has been stored, go to that location and then bring the ladder to the window could determine whether your child escapes the fire at all. With our system, the ladder is already under the designated window."

Outman created a company bearing the Fireskape name to sell an array of the custom-built seats and boxes after the Outmans' 10-year-old daughter asked her parents how she could safely get out of her room in the case of an upstairs fire. The Outmans bought and tested a regular escape ladder, but they discovered their daughter was too small to reach the window lock. So, they installed a window seat below her window, but then realized that mounting the ladder inside the window frame would be no easy task for a 10-year-old girl, let alone her younger siblings. In addition, when their daughter tried to use the ladder, she found that the ladder moved all over the place because it was not permanently mounted, which made her uneasy. Finally, they secured the escape ladder to the inside of the window seat box and so created their prototype, a secure escape ladder that could be stored out of sight, but was not out of mind.

"Only 23 percent of households have a fire escape plan," said Outman. "The Fireskape system helps families fill this huge safety gap quickly and easily so both parents and children can have peace of mind." The website also offers visitors general tips on fire escape planning.

For more information, visit http://fireskape.com.