Fire escape ladder for wide window sill - please help a very hormonal pregnant lady!

[GentleParent]

Posting for traffic - which I realise is a bit unreasonable. But...

Has anyone found a fire escape ladder that you can use with a windowsill depth of 15-16 inches? We live in a Victorian terrace, so sash window has small sill on inside but very deep sill on inside - total of about 15-16 inches. Everything I can find only seems to work on window sills up to approx 10 inches. Any recommendations gratefully received!

I am heavily pregnant and my nesting instinct seems to have been diverted into fire safety obsession - this ladder issue suddenly feels SUPER URGENT! AIBU to be this hormonal?!

is there an alternative way of attaching an escape ladder of a different design?

Talk to the Fire Service, they will do a free check for you and advise

I thought they weren’t recommended? Can you ask your local fire station if they’re safe

Fire Stations done safety visits, could ask them for advice. Win win I'd say

I can totally relate to this. If I could have covered my newborn in smoke alarms I would have. You can get the fire brigade to come out for free to do a full safety check. They can also advise you about ladders. I had them out twice

@StoneofDestiny & @DaisyDreaming - I've been in touch with local fire service and they're not doing checks at the moment due to covid unless your household has a particular vulnerability. I don't think they're recommended as a first or even second option for getting out - but if getting out through an upstairs window was the only option left, I'd rather have a ladder than not... Also - I'm due to give birth quite soon and just want to order something now, as it will obviously slip way down to do list after that and never get sorted!

@GentleParent I'm going to say YABU but very gently. Can you imagine climbing through the window either heavily pregnant or with a tiny baby? As you live in a terraced Victorian house I'm going guess you live in a town so Fire Service response times should be excellent.

What I would suggest is that you contact your local Fire Service and request a home safety check. They are very good and through.

@BlackeyedSusan - Yes, if I can't find one designed to fit wide sill, I'll have to look at some sort of alternative like carabiner that you clip to radiator / heavy piece of furniture etc...? Would prefer to get one that fits window, though - that sounds easier and safer if it's an option.

@StopGo - It would be very difficult! I imagine preferable to burning to death, though... I'm pretty sure this thing will never be used - even in a fire, I wouldn't attempt it except as an absolute last resort. But surely better to have it than not? Fire service not doing checks at the moment, due to covid.

Rope ladder?

@lockdownbreakdown - Haha! Glad I'm not alone! Growing up, I used to roll my eyes at my Dad for all his safety measures - but turns out I'm just as bad. I wonder if they do high vis vests in maternity fit...?!

Do you usually suffer from anxiety, OP? Do you have fire alarms in your house? Do you have a carbon monoxide detector? Those two should be enough. I don't know anyone who's got a ladder like that, do you?

@HollowTalk
No
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes, if I can't find one designed to fit wide sill, I'll have to look at some sort of alternative like carabiner that you clip to radiator / heavy piece of furniture etc...?

This is a great idea of you want to die falling out of a window instead of by fire

Is this your first baby? We've all driven ourselves crazy with these types of obsessions to make everything safe for baby, its natural. Right now though you realise that you be being unreasonable.
Book in a fire safety check for when you can do and use your common sense with regards to the rest of the house. Good luck with the baby

@jimmyhill - Genuinely not sure. I think I'd probably prefer falling to my death over burning to my death. Which would you choose?

But seriously, people - I'm not for a moment suggesting that this is something I would leap to use at the first whiff of burning toast! It's something that will almost certainly gather dust at the bottom of the wardrobe and then be disposed of by my children or a house clearing firm when I die (hopefully not from fire or falling out of a window). But in the hugely unlikely event of a family gathered at a window knowing it was their only way out, wouldn't they be better off with a ladder over bedsheets tied together or just jumping straight out?

How about one like this: www.safelincs.co.uk/saffold-fold-out-fixed-fire-escape-ladder/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjomr64Hd7wIVz-h3Ch2yywPEEAAYASACEgJx6vD_BwE
It doesn’t rely on the windowsill, and would be easier to use than a chain ladder (because it’s fixed to the wall)

Have you thought of fire blankets etc, that you could use to seal off a door?
Climbing from an upstairs window especially with a new born or heavily pregnant sounds more dangerous than sealing yourself in and waiting on the fire service.

@greeneyedlulu - Second, but this has been on my background To Do list for about 6 years! I'm just having a pre-labour rush of Getting All The Things Done. I've also just had kitchen repainted, sofas cleaned and finally disposed of a load of junk from the cellar - there's no stopping me! So it's more in the context of displacement activity / out of control nesting than baby anxiety!

@Boatingforthestars - I would absolutely wait for the fire service. I never ever want to use this ladder! It would only be if flames are raging and we are literally all about to die anyway!

@Notjustanymum - It would work, but I don't want to make any fixed changes to the house and I think the local burglars would quite like that too! Thank you, though!

When I was pregnant I got a bit fire obsessed too. It's obviously good to be aware and make an exit plan, but I even bought a dog harness to keep upstairs and a couple of long leads so I could lower him out of the window by his harness.
Looking back I feel a bit silly!

The dog out of the window by the way, not the baby!!!

Also like to add, although not a plumber, hooking a carabiner to a radiator pipe is not safe at all. Copper pipe is very soft and will bend, also radiators are not always attached to walls overly securely as the brackets are only to keep it against the wall, not take the weight of a person.

Its rarely actually burning to death that gets people, it's the smoke inhalation, so focus on sealing a door off if you want to increase your survival chances

Thats so wierd, I'm 35 weeks and had the exact same panic this morning. They all seem shit tbh. I've decided on keeping some rope and a mesh type carrier in the bedroom. I'll go out first, DH will lower baby then dog then tie rope to our very heavy bed and climb down. We're only one set of stairs up though.