International Association of Fire Fighters Alberta
IAFF Alberta
Single Egress Stairwells
During a fire or other emergency in a multi-storey residential structure, stairwells provide residents a way out and Fire Fighters a way in.
The Number of Lives Lost When There's One Way Out
77
The number of people killed in 1923 in the Cleveland School Fire in Camden South Carolina. There building had only one narrow stairwell.
200
The number of people killed in 1940 in the Natchez Mississippi Rhythm Club Fire. It had only one exit.
87
The number of people killed in 1990 in the Happy Land Fire after an arsonist set fire to the single stairway.
100
The number of people killed in 2003 in the Station Night Club Fire when all were forced into one means of egress.
Fire Fighter Operations
When Fire Fighters arrive, it is these same stairwells we use to access and extinguish the fire. These stairwells also serve as tool caches, masonry (non-combustible) safe havens, and are where we connect our fire hoses to the building's water supply. We, our tools, and our hoses take up a lot of space.
Single Egress / Point Access Blocks
Whether we call the reduction of stairwells to only one stairwell Single Egress or Point Access Blocks, the point is the same: the now singular safe haven from which Fire Fighters work and through which residents evacuate is exponentially more congested and does not meet the objectives of the National and Alberta Building Codes.
Public Safety Concerns
Easements to these important codes are being provided to developers so they may remove stairwells to build larger or additional suites. We aren't developers. We are Fire Fighters who understand public safety and what it takes for us to successfully do our jobs, so we oppose Point Access Blocks. However, we see a way forward that maintains public safety and our ability to perform while reducing construction to a singular stairwell.
The Solution: Scissor Stairs
Two separate staircases crossing each other inside a single vertical shaft. This saves the space developers are looking for while maintaining a means of egress for residents and a means of ingress for Fire Fighters. We won't obstruct their exit, and they won't obstruct our operations. This also does not require an exception to the National or Alberta Building Code.
_edited.png)
The Ask
The Minister of Municipal Affairs implement a STANDATA requiring scissor stairs in single-egress applications.