What it says
- The article describes the Exit Traveler as a “portable fire ladder” that “unfolds to reach 12 stories down” and lowers a user by an “automatic pulley system.” (These are the Tribune’s words; the other press items describe a cable and harness.)
- This PDF was kept with the original Exit Traveler website files but was never linked there; it is published here in full.
p. 2
p. 3A three-page printout of the Tribune archive page. Excerpt transcribed from the PDF’s text layer.
Transcript
From the article’s opening scenario:
Still, you’re on the 10th floor, the fire-department crew hasn’t arrived yet and the flames are drawing nearer. Suddenly, you remember an item in your briefcase—the Exit Traveler, a portable fire ladder. This contraption, which you’ve lugged from hotel to hotel, weighs only a few pounds but unfolds to reach 12 stories down. Hooking it onto your window, you get on it, and its automatic pulley system slowly lowers you and your child to the ground.
A futuristic fantasy? A 21st Century wish list?
No. Talking fire alarms and portable fire ladders are only a couple of recent entries in the booming safety- and security-products market that are rapidly appearing in all areas of everyday life.
Transcribed for accessibility and search; the scan above is the document of record.
Permanent file address (unchanged since the original Exit Traveler website): /images/1990-05-27-Chicago Tribune -Playing It Safe.pdf