A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually stairs or escape ladders mounted to the outside of a building—occasionally inside, but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells inside a building inaccessible. Fire escapes are most often found on multiple-story residential buildings, such as apartment buildings.
Fire escapes were developed in the late 1700s and in the 1800s. In the 1800s and 1900s, they were a very important aspect of fire safety for all new construction in urban areas. However, after the 1960s, they fell out of common use in new buildings (though they remained in use in some older buildings). This is due to the improved building codes incorporating fire detectors; technologically advanced firefighting equipment, which includes better communications and the reach of firefighting ladder trucks; and more importantly, fire sprinklers. International building codes and other authoritative agencies have incorporated fire sprinklers into multi-story buildings below 15 stories—not just skyscrapers.