The TSBD roof

[Gary Murr]

No problem, Pat; I will see you in Dallas in a couple of weeks.

 

Gary

[Tommy Tomlinson]

Apologies for resurrecting an old thread... I was going to ask a similar question to this, but most of what I was going to ask seems to have been covered by the discussion already.

Just a couple of points to add to the matter.

1. A cockloft is the equivalent of an attic but on a flat roofed building. Looking at the shape of the TSBD, the cockloft would have barely been a crawlspace, probably running a similar depth to that strip above the windows with the air vents. I'd be surprised if a grown man were able to crawl on his hands and knees through such a space. Though a determined and physically fit person would be able to squidge through as long as they didn't mind breathing in more than their fair share of dust and desiccated pigeon leavings... 

2. It is highly unlikely that a ladder running up to the cockloft would also lead directly to the roof. The ceiling that essentially forms the floor of the cockloft is a separate structure to the roof, almost like a suspended or mezzanine. It would be like the ladder to your loft also leading directly to the outside of your roof.

Looking at the images Ron has shared, (as someone who spent a year or two working on roofs as a young 'un) I'd be very surprised if there was any way to and from that roof other than the obvious stairwell on the northwest corner. 

Which leads me to the one part of my question that wasn't addressed by the prior discussion. 

Is/was there any external fire escape or ladder that would provide egress from the roof?

It seems a fairly obvious question, but I can't for the life of me find a picture of the east side of the building from that time. Squinting at the brilliant aerial picture that David posted, it certainly looks like there are the two handrails you would expect to see attached to a ladder on the east side of the roof, but my eyesight isn't what it was.