“Escapes” like this were common in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth until about 1970. This one was mounted on a fire engine like that shown in the depicted model. At a fire, the Escape was detached from the apparatus, rolled into position, and then extended up to 55 feet. Escapes first appeared in London during the 1820’s.
American apparatus had the ladders attached to the apparatus, but British streets and alley ways prevented this initially from occurring.
This Escape belonged to the London Fire Brigade and served until 1950. Four firefighters could handle one of these with ease.
This beautiful rig is located in Gallery 2.
