Deployable rail structure for high-rise building evacuation system

In an external fire fighting and rescue system for high-rise buildings including a vertical rail structure accessible from the exterior of the building for guiding a gondola to move up and down the face of the building, the improvement wherein the rail structure comprises a plurality of deployable rail units, at least one rail unit being located on each of a succession of floor levels, each rail unit comprising:

• an elongated rail segment having a length approximately equal to the floor-to-floor spacing in the building;
• a pivot member fixed with respect to the rail segment at a location intermediate between a first end and a second end of the rail segment;
• means for supporting the rail segment in a first stored position inside the building;
• means for translating the rail segment and for rotating the rail segment in a vertical plane on the pivot member between the first stored position and a second deployed position in which the rail segment is disposed outside the building approximately vertically with the first end down and in mating contact with the second end of another deployed rail segment directly below;
• and
• means for securing the first end of the first mentioned rail segment to the second end of the other rail segment directly below when the rail segments are in the second deployed position.