Fire escapes provide both a ladder down for the building occupant during an emergency and a ladder up to a less secure upper floor for a burglar. Occupants should not do anything that impedes access to a fire escape but there are things that can be done to make it less attractive to the burglar. If an apartment building uses a fire escape, there are a number of battery operated alarms for less than $ that can be installed to detect the opening of a door or window and sound a loud alarm to alert the occupants. If the fire escape ladder is a pull down.
