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30 January 2026
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Featured FRI Magazine article: Fires in high-rise buildings – Elevators by Ian Schnetler
Elevators provide a faster, less fatiguing method of getting to upper floors
https://www.frimedia.org/uploads/1/2/2/7/122743954/fri_vol_3_no_11.pdf
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Fires in high-rise buildings – Elevators written by Ian Schnetler, chief fire officer, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service, at the time of writing this article (FRI Vol 3 no 11). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Fires in high-rise buildings – Elevators
By Ian Schnetler, chief fire officer, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service (at the time of writing this article)
In this article, the next in the series of five articles on ‘Fires in high-rise buildings’, we focus on elevators. The problem, despite the vast improvement with fire prevention efforts, is that catastrophic fires continue to occur in high-rise occupancies resulting in large loss of life and property.
Buildings exceeding 30 metres in height are equipped with at least one ‘fireman’s lift’ that serves any storey including any basement. The lift is equipped with elevator override functions for independent control during an emergency.
Use of elevators during a fire
Elevators provide a faster, less fatiguing method of getting to upper floors and permit more equipment to be carried. Fire fighters may use elevators when under fire department control and the following measures have been taken:
The elevator shaft must be checked to ensure that heat/fire have not damaged the hoist mechanism, etc. This can be done by checking the space between the door frame and the elevator car and shining a light up in the shaft. If smoke or fire is visible in the shaft, do not use the elevator.
You must verify that the floor you are going to arrive at is uninvolved. This can be done by utilising the following measures:
The elevator should be sent unmanned to the floor two floors below the suspected fire floor and then returned to the ground floor. If the elevator returns clear of smoke, the elevator may be used for fire personnel. If the elevator returns and contains smoke, do not use. Report the decision of whether or not to use the elevators to the incident commander (IC) and make sure that lobby control knows which elevators have been checked and are safe to use.
If the elevators are inoperable or unsafe for use, then the ascent must be made by stairs. Fire fighters should utilise the least occupied stairs to avoid the crush of descending occupants. If the stairs are full of smoke, provide fan pressurisation at the base to prevent the consumption of air cylinders before reaching the fire floor. Crews should limit hand carried equipment to hose packs, forcible entry tools and spare cylinders.
If the use of elevators is feasible, these seven rules regarding elevator safety should be followed at all times.
• Only members trained in the operation, use and methods of escape from elevators should operate the lifts
• Never take an elevator to the fire floor
• Never pass the fire floor in an elevator
• Never return on an ‘UP’ elevator unless it is under fire department control
• Never use an elevator in a multiple elevator hoist way unless all are under fire department control
• Never overcrowd elevators; leave room to force your way out if necessary
• Always carry forcible entry tools with you when using elevators
Guideline when operating the elevator
Operate the elevator to the floor two floors below the suspected fire floor and report conditions in the elevator lobby back to the IC.
Only one crew (with the operator) and equipment at a time should use the lift to avoid overload and to permit room for emergency manoeuvres in the lift.
Crew and operator must be fully dressed with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) face pieces in position for quick donning before ascent.
A radio, forcible entry tools, step ladder, extinguisher and spare BA cylinder should remain in the lift with the operator.
Elevators that travel through a blind shaft should not be used. A blind elevator shaft is defined as the portion of a shaft where normal landing entrances are not provided. If an elevator which shaft terminates below the fire floor is present, use that lift. If not, utilise an elevator that serves all floors and is remote from the fire floor, such as a freight elevator.
Elevators with door opening restrictors should not be used unless forcible entry tools are left in the lift.
Avoid using the radio in or near the elevator control room. It may disrupt elevator controls.
Know where the stairwells are prior to entering the elevator.
Crews beginning the ascent should attempt to stop the lift at the first typical tower floor but not over five floors, to verify that the 'fire feature' is working. While stopped at that floor, note the relationship of the elevator to the closest exit stairs in the event the car does become erratic and the door opens into flame on the fire floor.
This week’s featured Fire and Rescue International magazine article is: Fires in high-rise buildings – Elevators written by Ian Schnetler, chief fire officer, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service, at the time of writing this article (FRI Vol 3 no 11). We will be sharing more technical/research/tactical articles from Fire and Rescue International magazine on a weekly basis with our readers to assist in technology transfer. This will hopefully create an increased awareness, providing you with hands-on advice and guidance. All our magazines are available free of charge in PDF format on our website and online at ISSUU. We also provide all technical articles as a free download in our article archive on our website.
Fires in high-rise buildings – Elevators
By Ian Schnetler, chief fire officer, City of Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service (at the time of writing this article)
In this article, the next in the series of five articles on ‘Fires in high-rise buildings’, we focus on elevators. The problem, despite the vast improvement with fire prevention efforts, is that catastrophic fires continue to occur in high-rise occupancies resulting in large loss of life and property.
Buildings exceeding 30 metres in height are equipped with at least one ‘fireman’s lift’ that serves any storey including any basement. The lift is equipped with elevator override functions for independent control during an emergency.
Use of elevators during a fire
Elevators provide a faster, less fatiguing method of getting to upper floors and permit more equipment to be carried. Fire fighters may use elevators when under fire department control and the following measures have been taken:
The elevator shaft must be checked to ensure that heat/fire have not damaged the hoist mechanism, etc. This can be done by checking the space between the door frame and the elevator car and shining a light up in the shaft. If smoke or fire is visible in the shaft, do not use the elevator.
You must verify that the floor you are going to arrive at is uninvolved. This can be done by utilising the following measures:
The elevator should be sent unmanned to the floor two floors below the suspected fire floor and then returned to the ground floor. If the elevator returns clear of smoke, the elevator may be used for fire personnel. If the elevator returns and contains smoke, do not use. Report the decision of whether or not to use the elevators to the incident commander (IC) and make sure that lobby control knows which elevators have been checked and are safe to use.
If the elevators are inoperable or unsafe for use, then the ascent must be made by stairs. Fire fighters should utilise the least occupied stairs to avoid the crush of descending occupants. If the stairs are full of smoke, provide fan pressurisation at the base to prevent the consumption of air cylinders before reaching the fire floor. Crews should limit hand carried equipment to hose packs, forcible entry tools and spare cylinders.
If the use of elevators is feasible, these seven rules regarding elevator safety should be followed at all times.
• Only members trained in the operation, use and methods of escape from elevators should operate the lifts
• Never take an elevator to the fire floor
• Never pass the fire floor in an elevator
• Never return on an ‘UP’ elevator unless it is under fire department control
• Never use an elevator in a multiple elevator hoist way unless all are under fire department control
• Never overcrowd elevators; leave room to force your way out if necessary
• Always carry forcible entry tools with you when using elevators
Guideline when operating the elevator
Operate the elevator to the floor two floors below the suspected fire floor and report conditions in the elevator lobby back to the IC.
Only one crew (with the operator) and equipment at a time should use the lift to avoid overload and to permit room for emergency manoeuvres in the lift.
Crew and operator must be fully dressed with self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) face pieces in position for quick donning before ascent.
A radio, forcible entry tools, step ladder, extinguisher and spare BA cylinder should remain in the lift with the operator.
Elevators that travel through a blind shaft should not be used. A blind elevator shaft is defined as the portion of a shaft where normal landing entrances are not provided. If an elevator which shaft terminates below the fire floor is present, use that lift. If not, utilise an elevator that serves all floors and is remote from the fire floor, such as a freight elevator.
Elevators with door opening restrictors should not be used unless forcible entry tools are left in the lift.
Avoid using the radio in or near the elevator control room. It may disrupt elevator controls.
Know where the stairwells are prior to entering the elevator.
Crews beginning the ascent should attempt to stop the lift at the first typical tower floor but not over five floors, to verify that the 'fire feature' is working. While stopped at that floor, note the relationship of the elevator to the closest exit stairs in the event the car does become erratic and the door opens into flame on the fire floor.
Know where the stairwells are prior to entering the elevator
If the lobby or fire control room position indicator showed lifts not returned to the lobby, it may be possible to combine the floor check with a search for the stalled lift on the way up. If the lift performs properly, continue the ascent to two floors below the indicated fire floor, stopping every five floors to check the elevator operation. Check the shaft for smoke every time you open the door.
Check the shaft for smoke every time you open the door
Emergency elevator conditions
Normal elevator operations, fire feature and the interlock safeties are all electronic programs and can be made erratic or inoperative by excessive heat and smoke. No one should use an elevator in a fire situation that is not trained to self-extricate from the lift under emergency situations.
If you see smoke under pressure or an accumulation of smoke so great you cannot see the top of the shaft, exit the lift at that point and climb the remaining floors. If the 'fire feature' is still operational, the operator should exit and allow the lift to be recalled to lobby on 'bypass'. If the shaft is still clear, continue the ascent. Should the lift, at any time, become erratic and unresponsive to operator commands, activate the emergency stop. The rebound from this sudden stop might place the lift in an overload condition were it loaded with two crews and equipment. If the emergency stop fails, pry open the lift door and trip the interlock. If that fails, put on your face masks, get low in the lift and if the door opens onto the fire floor, move to the stairwell under whatever protection you can gain from the extinguisher.
The elevators should not be used for occupant evacuation until fire control is achieved, unless the shaft is made of concrete or masonry and does not open to the fire floor. The occupants do not have self-contained breathing apparatus or turnouts to shield them from smoke flashing in the shaftway, nor are they prepared to climb down the shaft or make the drop to a misaligned floor from a stalled lift.
The members of technical rescue and high-rise teams, however, are trained in these operations and while elevator use at fires can be dangerous, the benefits of arriving at the fire floors fresh, in a fraction of the time, with a full tank of air, necessitates use of the elevators, when safely possible.
Normal elevator operations, fire feature and the interlock safeties are all electronic programs and can be made erratic or inoperative by excessive heat and smoke. No one should use an elevator in a fire situation that is not trained to self-extricate from the lift under emergency situations.
If you see smoke under pressure or an accumulation of smoke so great you cannot see the top of the shaft, exit the lift at that point and climb the remaining floors. If the 'fire feature' is still operational, the operator should exit and allow the lift to be recalled to lobby on 'bypass'. If the shaft is still clear, continue the ascent. Should the lift, at any time, become erratic and unresponsive to operator commands, activate the emergency stop. The rebound from this sudden stop might place the lift in an overload condition were it loaded with two crews and equipment. If the emergency stop fails, pry open the lift door and trip the interlock. If that fails, put on your face masks, get low in the lift and if the door opens onto the fire floor, move to the stairwell under whatever protection you can gain from the extinguisher.
The elevators should not be used for occupant evacuation until fire control is achieved, unless the shaft is made of concrete or masonry and does not open to the fire floor. The occupants do not have self-contained breathing apparatus or turnouts to shield them from smoke flashing in the shaftway, nor are they prepared to climb down the shaft or make the drop to a misaligned floor from a stalled lift.
The members of technical rescue and high-rise teams, however, are trained in these operations and while elevator use at fires can be dangerous, the benefits of arriving at the fire floors fresh, in a fraction of the time, with a full tank of air, necessitates use of the elevators, when safely possible.
Never take an elevator to the fire floor
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The severe fire that produced this damage was fuelled by a single mattress and box springs propped against the wall next to the elevator as a resident was moving
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