For those that live in a single family apartment, do you actually have more than one door?

[kentauros]

I have the one, and it's both the 'front' door and the 'back' as it faces the back side of my building, unless you call the true backside that which faces the street

[NYC_SKP]

1. All but one of my apartments in NYC had one door.

And, IIRC, some I had in California only had one door.

But there had to be a second form of egress, to a fire escape for example.

I think that's uniform throughout the country, at least one door and one window large enough to escape through.

[kentauros]

4. These apartments were built in the 1950s

so no fire escape. There's only two floors, but I suppose you could squeeze out the bedroom window. Other than the one door here, there's really no easy escape route. I guess the age of the place allows it to get away with any code violations. Then again, I have no idea what those are in Texas...

Now that I think about it, the only buildings I've ever seen with exterior fire-escapes in Houston are on old hotels downtown. Apartments aren't built with fire-escapes here, or at least no exterior ones like I see in pics of NY.

[NYC_SKP]

8. State fire codes vary.

But I think all have adopted some minimal requirements.

Now I'm curious. You could try calling a fire station to ask.

I know of apartments here in California that are two story and don't have fire escapes, built in the 50s and 60s.

Not that fires are that common, but the thought of only having one way out, or the choice between one door and a second story leap, are troubling.

:donut:

[kentauros]

9. I try not to dwell on the 2nd story leap

as it leads to a concrete parking lot :o

I suppose if someone parked down there I could use their roof to break the fall, if they happened to park below my window (which isn't very often.) I also have a cat to save, so I'm not sure which exit I'd take. There is a huge picture window next to the front door, so maybe a table thrown through it would suffice...

[HipChick]

5. One door on the lower level

I have one of those string ladders to escape from the larger windows if I needed to..

[HipChick]

6. dupe

[Skittles]

2. I have a front and back door

but it's the first apartment I've lived in like that - it's nice; the back door leads out to a small patio

[petronius]

3. We have two doors, but they open into the same stairwell and are about 3' apart

My emergency plan is to leap wildly from a second story window and hope that ivy is as soft as it looks... :)

[TorchTheWitch]

7. only one and it was a ground floor apartment

in a converted Victorian house with one apartment on the ground floor and the other on the second floor. Though I lived in others that had a sliding glass door that led to a balcony, it wasn't intended as an exit nor as a way to escape fire.