Surviving a High-Rise Fire or Plunging Elevator: It Can be Done, Here's How

It is unlikely you will ever be caught in a high-rise building that has caught fire or a plunging or stuck elevator. If you are ever faced with one of these situations, however, some calm, quick thinking can help you out a great deal.

If you are in a high-rise building when it catches fire, keeping a few things in mind will help you out quite a bit. First, keep calm. If you are in a room, make sure the door isn't too hot before entering the hallway. Assuming it is safe to leave the room, there may be many stressed people in the hallway that will respond to your calmness.

If it's safe to go in the hallway, check out the stairwells. (Definitely do not use the elevator in a burning building). If the stairwell is filled with smoke, do not enter them. The best course of action in this case is to block off the stairwell entrances to prevent smoke from getting to you. Then go to a safe room and seal it off as best you can. Crack open the windows and leave some sort of "help" sign in the window if you can. If you can, call 911 and make your specific location known - "I am on the 79^th floor on the west side". When the firefighters have to come looking for you, knowing where to look can make a big difference.

Also, don't be tempted to climb onto a ledge. The outside of a building could burn as easily as the inside. It is also possible you will panic and fall.

In a burning building, you may be forced to climb to the roof as a last resort. Note that this is a last resort. It is possible that the roof will become too hot for a helicopter to land.

In rare instances, an elevator can drop. Usually a backup system will stop the car, However, a plunge could still happen. The most important thing to remember is if you're injured after the elevator hits the bottom of the shaft, don't move. If you have a spinal injury and attempt moving, you could be doing yourself serious harm.

If your elevator catches on fire, but you haven't plummeted, use the call button to call for help. It may be possible for maintenance to call the elevator to the ground floor. Punch all the buttons, in case the elevator is still functioning. It will stop somewhere (if it's functioning) and allow you to escape.

If the elevator is stuck, don't try to force the doors open. If you get the doors open and your elevator suddenly starts up (it is possible), you won't want to find out the hard way what could happen if your arms are near the opening. Don't try to climb out if you're between floors, either. Again, the elevator could suddenly move again and crush you.

In a stuck elevator, don't climb onto the roof either. Once you're up there, your only option will probably be to climb the cable system. Most of us are probably not that great of rope climbers.

Sources:
Come Back Alive; Pelton, Robert Young; Broadway Books, 2000.
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Surviving Anything; Sauer, Patrick and Zimmerman, Michael; BookEnds, LLC, 2001.