Detachable fire escape device

A fire escape device comprising an elongated flexible member having an upper end capable of being anchored with respect to a building structure and having a length to depend to adjacent ground level or other safe level, a slide and sling assembly detachably mounted on the flexible member for longitudinal movement therealong, said slide and sling assembly including a slide in the form of a pair of hingedly connected plates provided with facing grooves receiving the flexible member, manually operated screw-threaded means interconnecting said plates for pivoting them towards and away from each other to selectively frictionally grip the flexible member for controlling the rate of descent of the slide along the flexible member, said slide and sling assembly including a projecting mounting block on the lower outer portion of the outer plate below said screw-threaded means, said slide and sling assembly including a sling connected to said block thereby enabling a person supported by the sling to manually manipulate the means for pivoting the plates in relation to each other, each of said plates being substantially cruciform in configuration, hinge means interconnecting the outer ends of one pair of horizontal arms, said means for pivoting said plates in relation to each other interconnecting the outer ends of the opposite pair of horizontal arms, said means for pivoting the plates in relation to each other including a threaded rod hingedly attached to a horizontal arm on one of said plates and a wing nut threaded onto said threaded rod and engaged with the arm on the other of said plates, said wing nut being disposed outwardly of the plate having the mounting block thereon whereby a person supported from the sling connected to the mounting block will have access to the wing nut.