[BluH2o]

At least somebody's thinking creatively about how to get people out of high rise fires.

There was discussion along this line shortly after 9-11. In fact ABC's GMA show had a representative from a parachute company whose firm was promoting a specialized parachute designed for people who worked, or lived, in high rises. GMA also had a NYC fire official on at the same time to give his thoughts on the idea. He appeared to be against the idea, citing dangerous wind currents between buildings etc., the GMA interviewer (a women) agreed with the fire official. The parachute company exec should have been able to slam dunk the objections by simply stating ... if you're in a high rise faced with the same situation as the WTC victims caught on the highest floors on 9-11 ... and you had a parachute ... what would you do? He wasn't quick enough ... and let a great opportunity slip away. You can rest assured if I worked in a high rise like the Sears Tower in Chicago I'd have a parachute in the closet, or under my desk.

[calex59]

These people who talk about the dangers of jumping from a building with a chute are idiotic. The situation that is being outlined here is much the same as happened on 9/11. Do these people who are against chutes thing that a person would really be better off without one? Landing in traffice, hitting power lines? How does this compare with falling 40 stories without a chute! Some people simply don't think when they are talking. The normal person isn't going to jump out of a building unless there is an emergency that is life threatening to the point where this is the only option left, some chance is better than no chance.