A Study on People's Attitude to the Use of Elevators for Fire Escape

Currently, elevators are not considered as a proper means of escape in fires and people have been educated and trained to use staircases for fire escape. However, it is difficult for all the occupants to evacuate only by staircases timely and safely in super high-rise buildings, especially for the old and disabled. Considering the fact that super high-rise buildings are constructed in increasing numbers in many Asian cities, it becomes much more necessary to reconsider the use of elevators for emergency escape. Besides a mechanically safe elevator system, people's cooperation is of critical importance to assure an efficient egress process. To explore people's attitude to the use of elevators for fire escape in high-rise buildings and the diversity based on demographics, a study was conducted via face-to-face interviews in two different cities of China. Respondents' demographics and their responses to hypothetical fire scenarios were collected via a set of structured questions. The results showed that most people would consider using elevators for fire escape in super high-rise buildings. The main influencing factors of their attitude were firemen's instruction and the height of their location in the building. Statistical diversity was found based on demographics. These results indicated that people's attitude to elevator evacuation was positive and further study should be very important.