When one sees a fire escape over the main front door, on an old building, more than likely in it’s early history the building was a tenement. The example above is a typical one: 4 windows across and an exterior fire escape. These were put in place as a second way out in the event that the open interior stairways were inaccessible due to fire. 1860 the law requiring these were put into place.
*inspired by an article in the Westview News