CHICAGO — The Chicago Fire Department held a press conference at an abandoned housing project high-rise to demonstrate its new evacuation tool — the Saf-T-Slyd.
The Saf-T-Slyd is raised to window where victims are trapped; the victims jump on to the slide and — after a countdown of “one, two, three, whee!” — away they go, said a department spokesman. “Climbing down a ladder to escape a burning building can be very scary,” he said. “But this makes survival, well, fun.”
The combination of the long-running economic recession and drought meant many water-themed amusement parks closed their doors. The city bought up dozens of waterslides at auction April 1 and began modifying them for rescue purposes.
“We’ve put some really neat turns and chutes into the Slyd,” the spokesman said. “For added fun and decontamination, we’ve installed an open clown’s mouth water curtain at the midway point. And in the winter when the water freezes, they can really pick up some speed.”
It does take longer to erect on scene than throwing a ladder or extending an aerial, he added. “However, it is so much fun, we’ve had some residents during our beta testing actually run back in the burning building to use the Saf-T-Slyd again. Now that’s what I call a success.”